England vs New Zealand: England fall short on day three against New Zealand

0:01Yeah, gone, gone, he gets his fairytale ending. An epic way to go to a Test Match 100. The London Spirit of First Time win is the most remarkable thing you've probably ever seen in cricket. 604 and final Test Wicket that's due at all. It's ended when the T20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope.

0:56Hello and welcome. It's the Sky Cricket Daily Review at the back end of day three here at Trent Bridge. I'm in the company of a couple of great swingers, Chris the Wizard Wokes and Simon Dahl. It's been a fascinating day's cricket, gents. England started the day 223 for two, and I guess we thought for all money that they'd come out romping towards New Zealand's first innings total of 438. It didn't turn out that way. Some excellent swing and scene bowling from Nathan Smith in particular and Willow Rourke as well. Yeah, and better conditions, I think, today. Not as hot. The first two days were quite oppressive, I think, from a bowling point of view.

1:39Hard work. So that magnificent spell from Stokes on day two in the heat. But I thought conditions-wise this morning, a little bit of cloud around, surface just starting to play a few tricks and some really good line and length bowling. And the ball just started to do a little bit. and we saw that New Zealand had to start well, otherwise England could have got away from them, having what I felt was probably below par from New Zealand's point of view after being 317 without loss. Yeah, Bethel and Root were the not-out batsmen overnight. Both Bethel had sort of overcome some technical problems with the right arm was bowling around the wicket to him.

2:15And Joe Root, who I'd never seen him so excited leading into a Test match. He was so desperate to get out there and bat here at Trent Bridge. He loves it here anyway. But both fell cheaply in the morning. Well, they'd have gone to bed dreaming of big runs, wouldn't they? Beth are only 20 or 30 away from 100. Joe Root is what he does. Those days where England need them to go and bat big. He's usually the guy with the glue and sticks it all together. But it wasn't to be. He lost them early, as you said. Brilliant bowling from New Zealand. They were fantastic. In particular, the guys that we've mentioned there, Nathan Smith, has been brilliant and stepped up, hasn't he?

2:53He's usually effectively their fourth seamer. But in this test match, having to take the new ball has really stepped up. And New Zealand were fantastic this morning. Knocked over Joe Root again. Keeper up. Nathan Smith nipping it back into the pad. That's starting to become a bit of a problem. Well, I suppose it is. And it's six out the last eight. You know, LBW is with the keeper up to the stumps. You know, I suppose it is becoming a bit of a problem. And it's a way to get one of the best players in the world out. So teams are going to follow suit. And I suppose, I mean, I played with Joe. We've all watched Joe.

3:28He's one of the best, you know, sort of, he finds solutions. He's one of the best at doing that. And it's another thing that I'm sure he's going to have to try and figure out. But I'd back him to do it. It's kind of the two best players, isn't it? I mean, you look at the opposition from New Zealand's point of view. Who are the wickets we look at? Yes, Duckett can hurt you, which he has done. But Harry Brook and Joe Root. And you look at the dismissals, up to the stumps, keeper. just keeping them in the crease. You say rooting them to the crease. But it's just one of those situations where the footwork seems to disappear a little bit.

4:02The assurance of how they play when the keeper's back is just that little bit different. And Sanger talked about it in commentary really well about the mindset changes. And it plays on your mind rather than the features don't quite move the same. So they're going to have to look at it because I think now, You know, next test match is not until what? Late August, early September, Pakistan. You can just about be guaranteed Pakistan will be looking at a couple of bowlers at 82-83, keep us standing up and saying this might be how we control the middle order of England. Yeah, look out for Mohamed Abbas there.

4:35Should he make the final 11? You never know with Pakistan. They might miss that trick, but you would imagine not after what's happened. We've banged on about it continuously over the course of the series, about right-arm bowlers choosing not or never to bowl over the wicket to left-handers. And yet, lo and behold, Willow Rourke, who bowled very, very nicely indeed, quickly, a lot of hostility, over the wicket to Jacob Bethel, knocked him over, caught slip. They bowled six balls yesterday over the wicket to Jacob Bethel, and that was the last six balls of the day. It was Rourke's last over yesterday.

5:11with only six balls over the wicket to Jacob Bethel. We know that we've highlighted a couple of little technical things with Jacob that without playing so much four-day cricket lately, he might have just forgotten how to move his feet a touch here and there. But I still love that over the wicket angle now and then. You don't have to go to it all the time, but you've got to get in that zone where it's a little bit uncertain. He just wafted it one a touch wide. So good from O 'Rourke from that point of view. And good planning from New Zealand, I think, as well. They must have talked about that last night and said, we've got to try it.

5:40We've got to see if we can make it work. Jamie Smith came and went. I mean, at this point, the tide has turned to such an extent. New Zealand had no control at all. At one point, I think England were rattling along at seven and a half runs and over on day two. But suddenly the runs completely dried up. And Jamie Smith came out at number six and found himself walking back as well. Hasn't had a great game. You know, James Rui was under massive scrutiny for his keeping and the manner of his dismissals in that second Test match. And Jamie Smith also unable to turn what he says is some really good form leading into the series, into palpable runs.

6:19Yeah, and again, it's just finding the keeper was up to the stumps again. It feels like the mindset shifts a little bit with these batters when the keeper comes up to the stumps. So it's something that we're going to have to work towards. I always feel like he's a dominant player that wants to come and hit the ball. And it just felt like today, obviously, he's tried to do the same, tried to maybe come and play one shot too many and has got court slip. And credit to New Zealand, I thought they were fantastic. They put the ball in the right area. They asked those questions of those three in particular that we've mentioned, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith.

6:57And Zap Foulkes as well. Coming into the game having been 12th man, comes in as a concussion replacement. To be able to come in and do the job that he's done, you should be credit to him. He's come in, bowled fantastically well with the keep up to the stumps again. Found movement, found a way to bowl on this surface and picked up three himself as well. Yeah, three for 53 for him, three for 53 for O 'Rourke and four for 91 for the excellent Smith. Ben Stokes looked as though he'd found a little bit of rhythm. He made 90-odd in the match, or half the match that he played for Durham, in between the two Test matches when he should have been playing at the Oval.

7:35But are we starting to get a little bit concerned about him as a batsman? He's moved down to number seven. Obviously, we know about the heroics with the ball, but batting-wise, he just doesn't seem to be having the same effect on matches as he is with the ball at the moment. I thought he looked technically pretty good today. I mean, he looked quite sound. He got an unplayable delivery today. I think absolute peach. I mean, you know, Butch, you're a left-hander. Not many players are getting a bat on that. It was just, I thought at Lourdes, you know, I didn't think it was a great delivery that got him out at Lourdes.

8:08I thought he looked a little bit, but I thought his rhythm and the short stay today, he got behind a couple of really nice defensive ones. I'm not saying I'm overly concerned about it because I thought when he got deliveries that he needed, that he should have played at, he played at and played them well enough in that short stay. but he just got a delivery that was nigh on unplayable. And, you know, you get those. And there's a point to be made here about the over the wickets of the left-handers thing, right? Because O 'Rourke had bowled a pretty long and lethal spell from the Stuart Broad end over the wicket.

8:41And suddenly there were footmarks outside the left-handers off stump. And the ball that folks bowled Ben Stokes with, which nipped back a long, long way. I mean, I don't joke when I say you're not getting a bat on it. landed in one of those footmarks. So there is more to it than simply bowling from one side of the wicket or another. It has an effect on the pitch as the game goes along. And because of Foulkes' action, it's actually almost gone like a leg break, hasn't it, back in because of the way he rolls down the left-hand side of the ball. It's gripped and nipped back through. I think, as you say, there's no question around whether he could have played that delivery.

9:17It was a jaffer. And he looked relatively good today, didn't he, Bauer? I thought he looked in half-decent touch. I prefer it when Ben's looking to hit the ball. I really do. I love it when he's looking to come and be aggressive, take the game to the opposition, try and get on the front foot. I know it's not always easy. There's been games where he gets himself in first and lines the ball up and gets the pace of the pitch, but I just do prefer it when he's looking to hit the ball and looking to counter-attack almost. I know the fear that he can put into the opposition. People know what he's capable of once he gets in.

9:50So, yeah, fingers crossed that's round the corner. Zach Foulkes undid Harry Brook as well with another unplayable delivery. Brook made his third 50 of the series in 58 but wasn't able to go on. Again, I'm not entirely sure there was a great deal he could do about that. And in the end, England's innings was pushed up to 354 thanks to a bit of resistance from Gus Atkinson and Joffre Archer. But, of course, they end up giving away that 84-run lead. on a pitch which we feel can only get worse from here. I mean, that's a lot of runs, Dooley, isn't it? It is. New Zealand would have loved more, but I think anything over that 50-60 mark, when you're starting your second innings, 50-odd, 60-odd, in this case, 84 for none, you can have a wobble, and they had a wobble.

10:41They did. They had an early wobble. Tell the people about the wobble. You can have an early wobble, and you still feel kind of OK, because you know you're one or two partnerships away from still, say, getting 250, 260, 270 lead. And I thought Joffre's delivery to Latham, that first over in particular, was sort of cross-seam, wobble-seam, and then the last delivery would just bolt-seam up and it was angled into leg stump. How many balls have we said today, I don't think he could have done anything else because there have been a few. Yeah, yeah, ball straightened on Latham. He was trying to help it around the corner to square leg, and it just straightened on him.

11:21Nailed him in front. Archer had one. He then smacked a horrible, horrible blow to the head for Devin Conway. I mean, the delivery that I think he was trying to just allow to pass over the stumps sort of underneath his arms. He went to lift his arms up, and it somehow hits him on the back of the head, and we had about an eight-minute delay while he was sorted out. That's as nasty as delivery as you can almost see, isn't it? To be looking to leave the ball on length going over the stumps, and then it to hit you in the right ear. that's the last place you're expecting it to go. So that was a great spell from Joffre and Gus at the other end, to be fair.

11:54They started well with the new ball, and that's what England needed. Those third innings can be a little bit tricky when you've got a lead, but you've still got to build on it, isn't it? It doesn't just happen. You're not sure what tempo to play. Yes, indeed. And that new ball certainly did enough and was looking good for England. They were up and about. There was a bit of a buzz about them. but yeah, they couldn't quite capitalise that and the two at the crease, Ratchin and Mitchell managed to get through that sort of tough period soften the ball up a little bit and have played Walson. So when the two openers were out, Latham and Conway 12 for 2 and they were 96 ahead Henry Nicholls then went and the score was 51 for 3 Gus Atkinson picked him up with another fine piece of bowling and then Ratchin and Ravindra comes to the crease and you said that he is the one man in that top six for New Zealand who could possibly put some pressure back on and that's exactly what he did.

12:48He's a free-scoring player and when he's on, he's great to watch, Ratchan Ravinder. And for me, he's the player. Mitchell can kind of hold things together. He's tough and gritty. Doesn't always score at a fast rate, but he certainly can. But Ratchan was the player for me that could always just take the game on a little bit. And I think in these situations, as Wokeshi just mentioned, when you're not sure how to play, You kind of need someone that can score relatively freely and make sure that they just put a little bit of pressure back on the bowling unit. He's done it so far. I still think New Zealand need a few more.

13:22Yeah, the lead's 204. The close of day three, New Zealand, 204 runs ahead, seven wickets in the hutch. They've been steered to Carmel Waters by Ravindra and Mitchell. England built pressure towards the back end of the day, but weren't able to break that partnership. And if they don't strike early tomorrow morning, you can see the game getting away from them. Yeah, definitely. England will want early wickets, absolutely. And I think you said on comms, Butch, you said that there'll be just a few scars in the New Zealand team from what happened here with that big chase, you know, Johnny Bairstow back in the start of basketball in 22.

14:01So, you know, I think this is a bit of a different pitch. I think the ball, you know, it's offered a little bit more, especially in the last couple of days. So can't see it being that easy of a chase. But you'll always be wary of what an England team, you know, with Ben Stokes at the helm can do in that fourth inning. So they'll still want to capitalise on making this a big, you know, a big lead and making sure that they're going to have to chase a big score. But first hour is... Ideally, if you, obviously, from New Zealand's point of view, you want 400, but, you know, that looks unlikely. How many do you think they'd be happy with?

14:36I think they'd be comfortable enough with anything over 300. I look at the England side and I think, who takes it away from you? At 260, 270, 280, an hour of Ben Duckett, it's 160, 170. Yeah. Because he's that type of player that can just take it away from you and outfield's going to be even faster tomorrow. Brand new ball. I mean, he scores at way better than a runner ball. So I think at that 260, 270 mark, he can make it 160, 170 very quickly. So I'm thinking 300 and beyond, New Zealand are then slight favour. Not saying England can't chase it, but I think New Zealand are favourites at 300 and beyond.

15:15OK, they've got a bit of work to do to get there, England. Well, hopefully they'll have that Lazarus-like recovery, as they did after a chastening day one, and come back and pick up wickets quickly on day four here. We've had a brilliant Test match. The crowds have been absolutely enthralled with the cricket, even though the pace of it has slowed down somewhat as the pitch has broken up and felt the effects of the sunshine. But one thing is for sure, with the series locked at one apiece, the game's still very much in the balance. New Zealand are on top. Who is going to have the guts and the determination and the skill to get over the line?

15:50We might well be closer to finding that out tomorrow. Thanks for joining us.