Things can change quickly in cricket. Just as England thought a reset had occurred at Lord’s, only for a late night in Chelsea to put paid to that notion, so the nature of the pitch lurched significantly on a gripping third day at Trent Bridge.
Gone was the road from which the ball repeatedly raced across the parched outfield during the first two days. In its place – influenced by a slight drop in temperature and some cloud cover – was a more capricious strip of earth. It offered lateral movement and inconsistent bounce, and led to 11 wickets falling.
Things were never more challenging than when Jofra Archer was cruising in from the Stuart Broad End after tea with a box-fresh Dukes ball in hand, vaporising New Zealand’s two first-innings centurions in Tom Latham and Devon Conway.
The removal of Conway underlined the gear shift, Archer cracking the left-hander on the back of the helmet and then teasing an edge to slip with some extra zip off a length. Not since Callum Hudson-Odoi stuck two past Tottenham at the City Ground last December has a brace been so enjoyed on Trentside.
The problem for England – and not least a leadership team in desperate need of a series win – was that Archer’s sizzling intervention followed the loss of eight for 130 in the first two sessions and an 84-run deficit on first innings.
By the close, New Zealand had managed to stretch that lead to 204 for the loss of just one more wicket. Rachin Ravindra, 60no, and Daryl Mitchell, on 26, repelled everything England threw at them and will have the chance to put their side within touching distance of a 2-1 series win on day four.
Tradition dictates we delve into the bucket of cliches about this New Zealand team and use words like resourcefulness and spirit. Yet it was hard to escape them, not least having lost Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson before this decider and then having poor Blair Tickner subbed out with concussion on day two.
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Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke were known quantities, with the pair dismissing Joe Root, 21, and Jacob Bethell, 74, in the opening exchanges. Root was pinned lbw by Smith – footwork once again hobbled by Tom Blundell stood up to the stumps – while Bethell poked at a ball sliding across him.
Less known was Zak Foulkes, who after replacing Tickner appeared relatively innocuous at first – a quirky medium-pacer whose front leg points to 3pm in his delivery stride. After Nathan Smith removed Jamie Smith to make it three wickets inside the first half-hour, Foulkes proved gamechanging.
Stokes had walked out to a standing ovation at 234 for five and a wider belief that a belligerent 95 against Northamptonshire last week might have unlocked something. Instead, he was bowled for 15 by Foulkes, the ball jagging in significantly from around the wicket and beating an expansive drive.
Indicative of the struggle – and the asphyxia once again caused by Blundell’s proximity – was Harry Brook making the slowest half-century of his Test career en route to 58 from 80 balls. When he fell to Foulkes after lunch – off-stump rattled by one that decked away – it set the train in motion for 354 all out.
There were some slapstick moments along the way, be it repeat stoppages to fix a problem with the run-ups at the Stuart Broad End or Ben Sears grassing an absolute dolly of catch at mid-on off Gus Atkinson. But Nathan Smith, O’Rourke and, finally, Foulkes ensured that miss counted for little with a proficient mop-up job.
New Zealand could easily have been rattled when Archer fired up in response and his five-over burst trapped Latham plumb lbw sixth ball and dismantled Conway. But even with Atkinson getting another ball to rise and nick off Henry Nicholls for 16, Ravindra and Mitchell chiselled away for an unbroken 69-run stand.
Ravindra was in princely form, moving fluently from the outset and forcing the field to spread with early boundaries, before England managed to apply the brakes. What Stokes and his team need on day four are seven more wickets, however, and for another lurch in conditions come the chase.
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