And with that, as the captains jointly lift the trophy (in fact they don’t lift it, they just touch it suggestively), I’m off. It’s been a blast. Bye!
Updated
Brendon McCullum also does his talking:
Excellent day, excellent five days. We had to get the result. We had to force the pace, and the guys bought into that and we played a really entertaining brand of cricket, and it’s great to add a result to that.
Throughout the series our slip catching was brilliant. I’m really proud of this win. Sometimes it’s hard, when you’ve lost the first Test while playing really well, to bounce back from that.
England’s a very good team and to beat them in this Test, in these conditions, is no easy feat. I think the series was played in an excellent spirit. 1-1 is a fair result, it’s just a shame we haven’t got another one or two.
Alastair Cook talks about the game and stuff:
It was a disappointing day today. After halfway we were right in the game, but credit to New Zealand. We created opportunities, but every time we had a chance they piled on the pressure with attacking batting, and took the game away from us.
For Adam to score his first hundred on his home ground was a fantastic achievement, and Ben Stokes has taken a step forward, and I think Mark Wood as well, has added a bit of fire to our bowling attack. As always against a very good side if you’re not 100% on your A game, you get found out.
Bell and Ballance are wonderful players with outstanding records. They’ve had a tough couple of games, that’s the way Test cricket goes. We’ve got five weeks away now. Everyone can work on their games and hopefully come back in Cardiff and do pretty well.
As a batting unit we’ve looked good at times. Frustrated today, because we could have batted out the day, but those four wickets in the first hour really hurt us.
Boult has a little chat, while being buffetted by all sorts of wind.
Very special. To go through what we went through at Lord’s, and then come here, turn it around and win nicely, it’s a great feeling. Although we lost at Lord’s, we took a lot of positives out of that game.
England’s player of the series is Alastair Cook, and New Zealand’s is Trent Boult.
BJ Watling is the man of the match. He doesn’t have very much to say about it.
It’s been a good Test for the boys, and a good win, and we’re very proud of it. I thought I was in a bit of trouble. I’m obviously disappointed not to be able to keep, but delighted to get a chance to have a bat and run around the field. Luke Ronchi had an outstanding debut, and his keeping was brilliant. He did an outstanding job for us.
Paul Farbrace, England’s coach, says:
Sometimes you get beaten by the better team, and the way they’ve played over the last five days, they deserved to win. The positive way they play … perhaps we haven’t bowled as well as we could have done, but anything slightly off line or length they’ve put away. You learn from every series you play, and I think we’ve learned a lot from the way they’ve played in this series.
I thought their catching was excellent, and we were disappointed with our catching. We can’t keep having to create 13, 14 chances to take 10 wickets. We know we’re not a finished team. We’ve got work to do. There was some good stuff from our side, but we’ve got to learn and learn very quickly, and try to rectify some of the mistakes we’ve made.
The presentation will be broadcast live on Periscope, complete with lots of blustery wind noise, here.
Series drawn 1-1
So, an excellent Test for New Zealand, who played fine, fun, exciting cricket, and whose players all contributed, and for the concept of sportsmanship; a disappointing Test for England, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and English slip fielding.
New Zealand win by 199 runs
And it’s all over! A deserved victory for New Zealand, and the end of an excellent, if sadly brief, mini-series.
WICKET! Buttler lbw b Craig 73 (England 255 all out)
And he’s gone! The ball was on its way into the middle of off stump!
WICKET! Or is it? Buttler reviews!
Has Craig got him lbw? Yes, is the answer, but we’ll have to wait a little while to be certain.
Updated
91st over: England 255-9 (Buttler 73, Anderson 8) Target 455; 20 overs remaining
Henry bowls to Buttler, who squeezes the ball to a fielder deep at midwicket and refuses to run. He eventually accepts a single off the last, after he hits the ball high over cover and it drops and sticks. Into the last 20 overs we go. 120 deliveries.
90th over: England 254-9 (Buttler 72, Anderson 8) Target 455; 21 overs remaining
Mark Craig brings the spin, and the last ball spins just past the edge, leaving Kiwi heads in Kiwi hands, so close to celebration. Before then, though, Anderson hits past point for four. He’s now scored 1,002 Test runs – and the question is, how does that achievement compare with Cook’s 9,000-run haul, also completed today?
Anderson would need to play 927 Tests to get as many runs as Cook. Cook would need to play 45,942 Tests to get as many wickets as Anderson
— Will Atkins (@willatkins92) June 2, 2015
Updated
89th over: England 250-9 (Buttler 72, Anderson 4) Target 455; 22 overs remaining
Matt Henry gets his hands on the new ball for the first time, and Buttler prods his first ball in the air, over the bowler’s head and away for four, and then flicks off his pads through midwicket for four more. Then he’s floored by a ball that flies up and thumps him in the waist. Ouch.
88th over: England 242-9 (Buttler 64, Anderson 4) Target 455; 23 overs remaining
Having left the first four deliveries of the over, Anderson gets off the mark by deflecting Southee’s final one wide of the slips for four. So is the quality of these two Tests evidence that New Zealand deserve to be the stars of an English summer, rather than a mere warm-up act, or does today’s attendance prove the opposite? (though if it were July/August, and warmer, and school holidays, the attendance would surely increase significantly).
@Simon_Burnton Really wishing this series was 3 or even 5 test. I've enjoyed watching both teams play great cricket without nastiness.
— Cameron Evans (@batmanMcdreamy) June 2, 2015
87th over: England 238-9 (Buttler 64, Anderson 0) Target 455; 24 overs remaining
Boult bowls full and wide, and Buttler chases it, deflecting the ball through the gap where third slip would have been and away for four, and then through mid-on for another! Eight an over, that’s the ticket, lads!
86th over: England 230-9 (Buttler 56, Anderson 0) Target 455; 25 overs remaining
Southee bowls short and wide, and Wood slashes at it, bottom-edging the ball into the ground and not at all far enough away from his stumps to be remotely comfortable. A let-off, for sure, but three balls later he’s gone anyway. England need a shade over eight an over now or they aren’t going to win this.
Updated
WICKET! Wood c Craig b Southee 17 (England 230-9)
Edged … and gone! It’s a meaty edge from Wood, which Mark Craig takes at ankle height, just to his left, and England are on the brink now!
Updated
85th over: England 230-8 (Buttler 56, Wood 17) Target 455; 26 overs remaining
Boult bowls three deliveries from over the wicket, and after Buttler leaves them all he tries three from t’other side, which at least make the batsman do some work to earn no runs. Another maiden.
84th over: England 230-8 (Buttler 56, Wood 17) Target 455; 27 overs remaining
Oooh! Another lovely delivery, from Southee this time, heading towards off stump before moving away, rising to fly just above the shoulder of Mark Wood’s bat. Maiden.
83rd over: England 230-8 (Buttler 56, Wood 17) Target 455; 28 overs remaining
A Wood single, earned by digging out a dangerous yorker, is the extent of the scoring.
82nd over: England 229-8 (Buttler 56, Wood 16) Target 455; 30 overs remaining
Southee bowls, and Buttler reaches his half-century with a gentle tickle to fine leg, and then pushes through the covers for another four, lovely shot, possibly his best of the innings so far. And with that, England are more than halfway there! Only 226 runs to go now, lads!
@Simon_Burnton let's be realistic, the required run rate is starting to look a bit steep now. Might have to focus on the draw.
— paul (@pfon73) June 2, 2015
Updated
81st over: England 221-8 (Buttler 48, Wood 16) Target 455; 31 overs remaining
New Zealand take the new ball at the earliest opportunity, and hand it to Trent Boult. And … ooof! … Wood totally midjudges a ball that swings back into him, flies through the massive gap between bat and pad and just past the stumps. The batsman goes on to get two, twice.
80th over: England 217-8 (Buttler 48, Wood 12) Target 455; 32 overs remaining
Craig is denied yet another maiden, as Buttler cuts his final delivery fine, off the edge I think, between slip and gully, for four.
79th over: England 213-8 (Buttler 44, Wood 12) Target 455; 33 overs remaining
A maiden from Boult, with Wood still surefooted. “You mention it’s been a bad series for English spin, but I think the real problem with Moeen has been the unravelling of his batting reputation – evidenced by his quiet drop to No8 and perfectly exposed by the nature of his dismissal today,” writes Kieron Shaw. “Test cricket has exposed the fact that he in fact can’t read the delivery at all. He’s not just bad at it. He can’t do it. And so he masks it by making completely arbitrary decisions ball to ball. Result: He’s constantly slogging at deliveries he should leave and leaving ones he should hit, with no correlation to the actual circumstance. I think he’s all at sea. Contrast that with Buttler, the great revelation of whose game this last 12 months has been the discovery that he’s not the monolithic, big-bat, pyrotechnic slogger we all thought. He looks just as comfortable blocking his way through an innings, and he reads every ball.”
78th over: England 213-8 (Buttler 44, Wood 12) Target 455; 34 overs remaining
Craig bowls, and Mark Wood hits to cover. Buttler could have stopped running after a single, and protected his less-rated team-mate. He takes two, and then a late leg-bye ensured Wood starts the next over on strike, too.
77th over: England 210-8 (Buttler 44, Wood 10) Target 455; 35 overs remaining
So Boult starts the day’s final session, and Buttler cracks the ball through the covers for four. “Agreed this should be a three match series,” writes Steve Kerr. “As is stands, I feel like we (NZ) should really have won it. Final innings at Lords was a shambles, but even then we nearly(ish) clung on. Of course by the time we’re considered to be ‘deserving’ of a three-match series we’ll probably be crap again …”
If you think England might draw this, now’s the time to get your money on it – it’s around 9-1, as I write, with New Zealand around 1-12, if you’re lucky.
And out the players come again. Two more wickets, or 36-odd overs of attritional survive-at-all-costs batsmanship – which shall it be? We’re about to find out!
Updated
TEA: England 206-8
And that is tea time. The fielding side high-five each other and stroll off grinning, under blue skies. There’s no stopping them now, surely.
76th over: England 206-8 (Buttler 40, Wood 10) Target 455; 36 overs remaining
“Catch!” come the cries, as Wood hits in the air to mid off. “Not ruddy likely!” comes the reply, because there’s nobody there.
75th over: England 202-8 (Buttler 40, Wood 6) Target 455; 37 overs remaining
Spin from both ends now, as Craig bowls, and Buttler smashes him over midwicket for six! It’s England’s first of the innings, and their third of the Test (the Kiwis managed 15).
74rd over: England 193-8 (Buttler 32, Wood 5) Target 455; 38 overs remaining
After one ball of his sixth over Williamson has taken three wickets and conceded six runs. All very sixish, particularly given that he scored a combined total of six runs with the bat in this Test. Then he welcomes Wood with a full toss, which is rattled back past mid-on for four.
15 - Kane Williamson has 15 Test wickets against England at 16.9 average. He has 12 against all other teams (62.3 average). Favourites.
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) June 2, 2015
WICKET! Broad b Williamson 23 (England 188-8)
Broad plays on and, as he did just before lunch, Williamson makes a breakthrough just before tea!
Updated
73rd over: England 188-7 (Buttler 32, Broad 23) Target 455; 39 overs remaining
With Broad on strike and tea on the horizon, Boult returns. His first ball goes right through everybody and away for four.
72nd over: England 183-7 (Buttler 32, Broad 22) Target 455; 40 overs remaining
Buttler gets a single off the first (again), and Broad gives him a taste of his own medicine with a single off the second. “C’mon, too much English navel gazing going on,” moans James Evans. “Credit NZ for an excellent all-round performance. The real shame is that there are only two Tests. Who knows what would happen if this were a three- or five-match series? The teams are well matched and the play has been wonderfully unpredictable. Let Trevor Bayliss worry about England’s (myriad) long-term problems.” The timing and brevity of this series is indeed a shame. This Kiwi side is very easy to watch, and England will miss them, in due course, should the Ashes prove too one-sided or too mean-spirited to truly enjoy.
71st over: England 181-7 (Buttler 31, Broad 21) Target 455; 41 overs remaining
This time Buttler waits until Henry’s second ball before claiming is regulation single, and this time Broad angles the ball down to the third man boundary for four, and then hits through the covers for four more, before boshing the last – short and wide – in a similar direction for a third helping.
70th over: England 168-7 (Buttler 30, Broad 9) Target 455; 42 overs remaining
Kane Williamson returns for a third spell, his other two lasting two and one overs respectively and each bringing a wicket. Again Buttler gets a single from the first, and Broad sees out the rest. This is Broad’s 30th innings since he last survived 50 deliveries, and he’s now 27 50ths of the way there.
69th over: England 167-7 (Buttler 29, Broad 9) Target 455; 43 overs remaining
Buttler gets a single off the first, and Broad continues to not get out, despite facing one excellent Henry yorker, which he digs out rather well. He’s already faced 21 balls, making it the joint second-longest of his last 12 Test innings.
Updated
68th over: England 166-7 (Buttler 28, Broad 9) Target 455; 44 overs remaining
Craig bowls at Broad, who tries and completely misses a sweep, the ball going on to spin the very merest whisker past off stump.
Reasonably attacking field for Broad by the BLACKCAPS #engvnz #leeds ^CE pic.twitter.com/kEOgiN0lOL
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 2, 2015
67th over: England 166-7 (Buttler 28, Broad 9) Target 455; 45 overs remaining
A maiden from Henry, Buttler too busy thinking about the throbbing pain shooting up from his finger than to score any runs. The new ball, should New Zealand need it, is 13 overs away.
66th over: England 166-7 (Buttler 28, Broad 9) Target 455; 46 overs remaining
Craig bowls to Broad, with seven men clustered around the bat waiting for a catch, including three slips and a silly point. He deals with the over pretty well, all this considered, and boshes a wide one through cover for four.
Updated
65th over: England 162-7 (Buttler 28, Broad 5) Target 455; 47 overs remaining
A single from Broad, and then Buttler clips past square leg for four. Henry then gets one to fly up into Buttler’s finger, which seems a bit sore. “Are England on the up and up and on the crest of a new dawn wave or are we re-running Groundhog Day and the same old frailties still apply?” wonders Martin Laidler. A bit of both, surely. It’s been a largely encouraging series except for Ballance, Bell and the concept of English spin bowling.
64th over: England 157-7 (Buttler 24, Broad 4) Target 455; 48 overs remaining
Another maiden from Craig, his 10th from 24 attempts.
63rd over: England 157-7 (Buttler 24, Broad 4) Target 455; 49 overs remaining
So Henry switches angle, going round the wicket, and gets very rapid reward. Broad, who got a 39-ball 46 in the first innings, needs to survive about three times as long this time if England are to … well … I’m not sure I’ve got the heart to complete the sentence. He almost goes after three, as Henry gets one to rear off the pitch and into his body, and it flies off the shoulder of the bat towards the slip cordon. It flies over their heads, though, and away for four.
WICKET! Ali b Henry 2 (England 153-7)
Ouch. Moeen Ali shoulders arms to a ball that continues straight into the top of off stump.
Updated
62nd over: England 152-6 (Buttler 24, Moeen 2) Target 455; 50 overs remaining
Craig bowls a maiden to Buttler. “Dave (53rd over) has seen nothing in this series that worries him?” fumes Joe. “Not the fastest test century at Lord’s? Not bowling the third best team in the world out in a little over two sessions in the previous test? Not a resurgent (though cursed by my writing of this email) Alastair Cook? There are plenty of things for England fans to be positive about. As for the suggestion that England don’t deserve to draw the series, that’s exactly what both teams deserve. There has been no luck, no poor umpiring decisions, no reliance on weather, just a good contest between two fairly evenly-matched teams.”
Updated
61st over: England 152-6 (Buttler 24, Moeen 2) Target 455; 51 overs remaining
Headingley is miraculously avoiding the rain that has bothered much of the north of England today, and it does look like England aren’t going to get a helping hand here.
@Simon_Burnton I'm a mile from the ground and the wind's getting a bit lively. Don't see how you could see to bat if you're facing into it.
— john welsh (@johnwelshUK) June 2, 2015
60th over: England 149-6 (Buttler 23, Moeen 0) Target 455; 52 overs remaining
Williamson is shuffled off again, after a brief but glorious return, and Craig bowls to Moeen, with fielders clustered around the bat – seven of them, to be precise, within 10 feet of him. It’s a maiden, after which the players will take drinks.
59th over: England 149-6 (Buttler 23, Moeen 0) Target 455; 53 overs remaining
Henry bowls, and Buttler gets a thick edge that flies past the cordon for four. “If New Zealand lose this series they go to seventh in the rankings,” notes Nasser Hussain. Yes, and if their entire nation is carried away by aliens they’ll drop out of the rankings altogether. Meanwhile, this week’s Spin is now available for your delectation:
58th over: England 145-6 (Buttler 19, Moeen 0) Target 455; 54 overs remaining
Kane Williamson, who got Stokes out with the fifth ball of his first spell, gets Cook with the third ball of his second. There are also four byes. “England and NZ have now batted for almost exactly the same amount of overs,” notes Tom Francis. “Just the matter of the 320 run deficit. We don’t deserve to draw this series really.”
WICKET! Cook lbw b Williamson 56 (England 141-6)
He’s out! It’s closer than it looked – umpire’s call on both line and height – but out all the same, and England’s captain has gone!
Updated
REVIEW! Is Cook out here?
Surely he is! The umpire thinks so! The Kiwis think so!
57th over: England 141-5 (Cook 56, Buttler 19) Target 455; 55 overs remaining
Matt Henry bowls for the first time in this innings, and first he bowls a short one into the top of Buttler’s chest – the batsman gets his gloves out of the way in the nick of time – and then the next is edged just short of the slips, and the one after that goes through to the wicketkeeper, who appeals loudly. The umpire shakes his head, and McCullum decides not to appeal this time, but it looked closer to the bat than the last one, and there seemed to be a noise. Action-packed maiden.
More runs have now been scored in this series than any other two test series in history. #bbccricket pic.twitter.com/6LPi3yQEC5
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) June 2, 2015
56th over: England 141-5 (Cook 56, Buttler 19) Target 455; 56 overs remaining
Precisely halfway through the innings, if it’s to go the distance. Cook cuts Craig for another four, the fourth of which is his 9,000th run in Test cricket. Meanwhile, reports of some rain in the Leeds area, and the radar shows a bit of action thereabouts:
@Simon_Burnton Its lashing it down in Harrogate! I'm sending it Headingleys way!!!!
— James Himsworth (@HamsterShowJim) June 2, 2015
55th over: England 137-5 (Cook 52, Buttler 19) Target 455; 57 overs remaining
Southee, who got Buttler’s wicket in the first innings, continues with an ever-changing array of close-ish fielders – lots of slips, then fewer slips and a couple of on-side catchers. Anyway, none of them have anything to do. Maiden.
54th over: England 137-5 (Cook 52, Buttler 19) Target 455; 58 overs remaining
Cook cuts Craig for four to bring up his half-century. As I type he’s averaging 101.66 in this series.
Updated
53rd over: England 133-5 (Cook 48, Buttler 19) Target 455; 59 overs remaining
Southee bowls, Cook grabs a single. “Being an Australian. I have to say nothing I’ve seen this series worries me,” tubthumps Dave. “How is Ballance still selected? While I’ll admit that I don’t watch every match he plays every time I do he seems to fail both teat and limited overs. Early Ashes predictions: Australia win 5-0 and win at least 2 tests within 3 days.” I’ll admit that there hasn’t been much in the last 48 hours to raise a shiver in anyone Australian, but still, that’s bold.
Review. Southee thinks Buttler might have got an edge, but not given. No clear evidence so decision remains not out #engvnz ^CE
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 2, 2015
Updated
No he isn't!
The ball was indeed caught, but it didn’t go anywhere near Buttler’s bat.
REVIEW! Is Buttler out here?
Nobody seems to think so – only one person appealed – but, hey, why not chance your arm?
52nd over: England 132-5 (Cook 47, Buttler 19) Target 455; 60 overs remaining
A maiden from Craig. “According to the BBC weather forecast there’s no rain until 10pm. But gale force winds are about to hit Leeds. Any chance of wind stopped play? Have the umpires even dug out the ‘heavy bails’ yet?” Wind-related stoppages are rare, but not unheard of.
WIND STOPS PLAY: The elements have called a halt to the action at Kent, causing the lights to go out. pic.twitter.com/0O9f7gGySK
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 18, 2014
Updated
51st over: England 132-5 (Cook 47, Buttler 19) Target 455; 61 overs remaining
Cook edges! But the ball bounces well short of second slip! Soft hands, there. Today’s attendance – though it’ll grow a little as people trickle in over the afternoon – is confirmed at 2,127. The population of Yorkshire, Google tells me, is 5.3 million. I know it’s a work day, and a little chilly, and it rained yesterday, but a 0.04% turnout for the crucial final day of a widely-lauded Test series is a little disappointing.
50th over: England 128-5 (Cook 46, Buttler 16) Target 455; 62 overs remaining
Craig’s second ball is hit, late and wide, past gully for four by Cook, but the big cheers come after the single that follows – as Rod Tucker’s hat blows off. The sight of an umpire chasing a wheeling hat is comedy gold to cricket fans, truly it is. Buttler then advances, and hits nicely through midwicket for four.
@garynaylor999 @Simon_Burnton If they bat like this, even Shaun Tait will be good enough.
— LordAram (@LordAram) June 2, 2015
Updated
49th over: England 119-5 (Cook 41, Buttler 12) Target 455; 63 overs remaining
Cook, Sky inform us, has batted 1,000 minutes – or nearly 17 hours – during this series, of the 1,600-odd that his entire team have managed in the middle. That’s a remarkable effort. He adds one run to his total here, scant reward for a lovely pull to deep square leg.
48th over: England 118-5 (Cook 40, Buttler 12) Target 455; 64 overs remaining
No leg gully this time, as Mark Craig bowls to Buttler, who nurdles the ball into precisely the spot where he would have been, gets a couple of runs and forces McCullum into a little reorganisation to restore the fielder. Two of the next three deliveries are hit to the square leg boundary for four, and then one spins past batsman and wicketkeeper for four byes. 14 runs from the over, more than the seven previous overs put together.
47th over: England 104-5 (Cook 40, Buttler 2) Target 455; 65 overs remaining
Southee bowls, with blue skies above Headingley and the field bathed in sunshine. Still doesn’t look very warm, mind, and some fielders aren’t just wearing jumpers, but jumpers over their jumpers. A maiden.
Updated
46th over: England 104-5 (Cook 40, Buttler 2) Target 455; 66 overs remaining
Kane Williamson, having had a go just before lunch and accounted for Stokes, keeps going after it. With Buttler on strike there are two standard, common-or-garden slips, one leg slip, a short leg and a leg gully. There’s no wicket this time, just two runs to gully.
Hello world!
So, then, here we are. There were 98 overs scheduled for today, of which 67 remain. England need to go at 5.3 runs an over if they’re to win, which they won’t. New Zealand need to take a wicket with every 80th delivery if they’re to win, which they surely will. There remains, for as long as Cook is at the wicket and Broad remains a spectator, the notional possibility of a draw. It’s been a galling morning, especially for Bell and Ballance, both embarrassingly out. I suppose the real question, as the players come out for the start of this penultimate session, is whether they’ll have any reason to play beyond tea. Anyway, let’s play!
Lunch - England 102-5, require another 353 runs to win, New Zealand require five wickets
So, on balance, just about, when weighing everything up and looking at both pros and cons of the whole affair, that was probably marginally New Zealand’s session. If Stokes had survived until lunch then you might wonder that England may have just had a sniff of chiselling out a draw from this, for he looked rather impressive in both attack and defence, but the jig is up now.
Excellent bowling from New Zealand, mind. Boult was probably unlucky not to get more than the two wickets, while Craig sent down some blinders and got two scalps from a couple of his less threatening deliveries.
I’ll be handing over to Simon Burnton for the first bit of the afternoon session, so direct your mails and whatnot to Simon.Burnton@theGuardian.com or @Simon_Burnton.
Updated
45th over: England 102-5 - require another 353 runs to win (Cook 40, Buttler 0) Change of ends for Craig, and he goes up for a big lbw shout that hit Cook just outside the line of off stump. But he smothers the remainder and that’s lunch.
44th over: England 102-5 - require another 353 runs to win (Cook 40, Buttler 0) Jos Buttler is the new man, and he procrastinates with the skill of a revising student as England try to ensure that’s the last over before lunch, before surviving the last ball.
WICKET! Stokes c Ronchi b Williamson 29 - England 102-5
Kane Williamson gets a bowl before lunch, and gets success straight away. Firstly one nearly sneaks through Stokes’s defences, then he rocks back and tries a cut, but he can only get an edge through to Ronchi, who snaffles the catch rather neatly.
Updated
43rd over: England 101-4 - require another 354 runs to win (Cook 39, Stokes 29) Southee gets one to nip back at Stokes and it hits him...well, let’s forgo the coyness here - it hits him plum in the testicles. He spends a few moments gathering his thoughts and indeed his genitals, and Nasser Hussain apologises if the stump mic caught an expletive from Stokes. It’s like Jack Wilshere all over again. For those of you who have never played cricket or don’t have testes to be struck and wonder why he’s being such a whuss if he’s got a box on, let me tell you - that still bloody hurts. Maiden over.
Updated
42nd over: England 101-4 - require another 354 runs to win (Cook 39, Stokes 29) An uneventful over as Cook plays out a Craig over with the stoutness one might expect from someone with his sort of family.
41st over: England 101-4 - require another 354 runs to win (Cook 39, Stokes 29) Cook shoves a single down the ground, then Stokes wallops another short ball over straight cover and to the ropes. Good shot there to bring up the century, but Southee then beats Durham’s scourge of the lockers with a lovely one that shapes away from round the wicket and goes past the edge. Nevertheless, Stokes is playing rather well here.
Updated
40th over: England 96-4 - require another 359 runs to win (Cook 38, Stokes 25) There we go from Craig again. From over the wicket he beats Stokes with a lovely one, then drops short and is carved backward of point for four.
Tom Adam has a proposal for ol’ moneybags: “Smart bet from Jonathan McCauley-Oliver, he’s obviously a canny investor. While he’s there, I wonder if I can interest him in these options over unlisted shares in a Venezuelan emerald mine? Incredible opportunity.”
Updated
39th over: England 92-4 - require another 363 runs to win (Cook 38, Stokes 21) Southee is round the wicket now with a leg-slip in, and Cook pushes a full ball on middle stump through mid-on for three. One bounces on Stokes which he actually does fairly well to keep down, even though it rapped his finger a touch nastily.
Meanwhile, this is good from George Rogers: “I suppose it’s some kind of indictment of our national psyche that we should get ourselves into a tiz about how we approached chasing down a total that no side, in the history of the game, has ever managed. Our collective faith in the fait accompli of achieving some manifest destiny of astonishing, historic victory, matched only by the speed with which we admonish ourselves for deigning to believe that anything more than a dreary drudge through dour disappointment awaited us.
“Point being, why was anyone talking about chasing a win? Why did Joe Root feel the need to make that kind of a declaration of intent in the face of what was clearly a hopeless situation? And why now must we wring our hands over England’s lack of an attempt to live up to hubris to which we have not earned the right? I get that the cricket has been exciting and we’re all riled up for getting ahead of ourselves. But perhaps this borderline schizophrenic attitude towards our team might actually be part of the problem. That they know they’re damned if they do and they’re damned if they don’t.”
38th over: England 88-4 - require another 367 runs to win (Cook 35, Stokes 20) Stokes, while perhaps not in Lord’s mode just yet, certainly isn’t happy just prodding and poking. He drives a full ball with some oomph through the vacant mid-off, before keeping the rest of the over out. Incidentally, I’m not changing the ‘...runs to win’ in favour of ‘...wickets to win.’ Don’t lose the faith, Englanders.
Looks like Jonathan McCauley-Oliver has money to burn: “Anyone else had a cheeky bet on England to win this morning? I’ve just got 100/1 on them. Stranger things have happened; haven’t they? They must have, surely.”
37th over: England 84-4 - require another 371 runs to win (Cook 35, Stokes 16) Tum Southee has the ball, as McCullum rotates the old seamers while letting Craig twirl away at the other end. Most of his stuff is angled across Cook from over the wicket, inducing a prod that he misses and one that rises above off stump - worryingly, from around the same length, but it’s largely too far wide of off stump for Cook to bother too much with.
36th over: England 84-4 - require another 371 runs to win (Cook 35, Stokes 16) Good thing about Craig from an English point of view is that while he can bowl some sensational rippers, he’s equally prone to some absolute filth, which he displays with a horrible long-hop that Stokes nails through the covers and to the fence. He then, of course, gets Stokes fencing at one that turns, and beats the outside edge.
“G’day,” begins Sarah Bacon, giving a subtle hint to her nationality. “As an Aussie, I normally support Australia first, England second (readers, I married a Pom), and everyone else against New Zealand, but if I’m buggered if I can’t help nursing a sincere desire that my Kiwi cousins pull off a win today. Not only for their great cricket, but anything that adds to England’s demoralisation ahead of the Ashes is fine by me. Sorry.”
35th over: England 80-4 - require another 375 runs to win (Cook 35, Stokes 12) Stokes grabs a quick single to the covers, Boult drops the ball in his run-up causing many chuckles, then Cook absolutely nails a pull but straight to deep square, so they only get a single. Stokes pushes one more, and whisper it, but despite the desperate situation in which England find themselves, these two look in very good order.
34th over: England 77-4 - require another 378 runs to win (Cook 34, Stokes 10) Stokes tucks another three to the on side, which are the only runs from the over, then Craig gets an absolute ripper past Cook’s outside edge that the opener must have known was going to beat him early on, and all he could do was pray that he missed it. Which, he did.
Talk will, and inevitably already has on Twitter, turned to ripping up the middle order and starting again. But. Let’s remember that Bell (as previously mentioned) scored a century five Tests ago, as did Ballance who got 77 and 81* in the one after that, while Root scored 98 and 84 quite literally one Test ago. So let’s not panic just yet, eh?
Updated
33rd over: England 74-4 - require another 381 runs to win (Cook 34, Stokes 7) England rattling along now - Cook nudges a single, before Stokes times one perfectly off his thigh and it scuttles away through square-leg for four. One more down to fine leg, and if they continue this sort of run rate then the win is on!
32nd over: England 68-4 - require another 387 runs to win (Cook 33, Stokes 2) Cook sweeps with some gusto straight into Latham’s forearm at short-leg, which he’s still holding, although by his standards this morning you can chalk that up as a chance. Cook cuts a single just to the left of point.
Michael Foreman writes: “Along with a helmet, box and shin pads all short leg fielders should now wear a great big wooly jumper whatever the weather to help them clasp catches driven into their midriff. Don’t reckon Latham would have caught that without his. Aggregation of marginal gains and all that...”
Those England numbers would’ve been no use, then...
Updated
31st over: England 67-4 - require another 388 runs to win (Cook 32, Stokes 2) Trint Boult is back into the attack, but he’s uncharacteristically a little wayward, one way down leg, one a full-toss (unpunished) and one on Cook’s pads, which he flicks for a single.
@NickMiller79 obo 29th over, or perhaps nz have bowlers who'll stick to a plan, rather than create their own free-form jazz odyssey (broad)
— andy de la touche (@john_neptune) June 2, 2015
They’re drinking (presumably nothing stronger than Gatorade, but you wouldn’t blame them...), so here’s Richard Mansell in defence of England: “I’m watching this enthralling series as a neutral, and reading about England going all-out for the win. Given that they won the first Test, why should they, the draw gives them the series. Not exciting but that’s the cold calculation - or should be.”
30th over: England 66-4 - require another 389 runs to win (Cook 31, Stokes 2) Stokes gets off the mark with a little push round the corner. The optimists and romantics among you might be hoping for a repeat of Lord’s, but it will probably be a rather different innings from him this time.
“England did indeed come out ‘all guns blazing’” honks Dom O’Reilly. “Sadly, they were the kind used by clowns which produce a sign saying ‘ BANG!’ and the joke is on them.”
29th over: England 64-4 - require another 391 runs to win (Cook 31, Stokes 0) Runs! Two runs! Cook pushes just past mid-off for a couple, for a brief moment of respite for an England team who just lost three wickets for one run. That’s all from the over.
So let’s talk about why Joe Root said England would go ‘all guns blazing’. Was it just a young man getting a little giddy after being cooped up indoors for most of the day? Or was it some sort of mind game from England, trying to convince McCullum and New Zealand that they would try for the win. For what purpose, I’m not certain. Or perhaps they really did plan to go for it, but just got bogged down at the start and the lost wickets scuppered the plan?
Updated
28th over: England 62-4 - require another 393 runs to win (Cook 29, Stokes 0) Well then. Well then. Well. Then.
WICKET! Root c Latham b Craig 0 - England 62-4
Root’s in, but he goes second ball! He’s desperately unlucky though, flicking a leg glance with some gusto straight into Latham’s chest at short leg, but the opener somehow manages to clasp his arms to his chest - perhaps more as a belated attempt to protect himself than to take a catch - and the ball sticks. Oh boy.
Updated
WICKET! Bell c Williamson b Craig 1 - England 62-3
The fielders are closing in around Bell, who survives an lbw shout. Craig and McCullum then bring in a leg slip, and Bell acknowledges that as a smart move by rather obligingly guiding a leg glance straight into his hands. Now that was a terrible shot.
Updated
27th over: England 62-2 - require another 393 runs to win (Cook 29, Bell 1) Big innings this from Bell, who has been whatever the opposite of ‘on fire’ is of late, scoring 11, 1, 0, 0, 1 and 29 in his last six knocks. Of course, as with most arbitrarily chosen stats there is a slight flaw there, in that he got 143 in the one before that. But still. He gets off the mark with a quick single to the covers.
I haven't sat in on many England selection meetings recently: is Ian Bell playing for his Ashes place here? Should be
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) June 2, 2015
26th over: England 61-2 - require another 394 runs to win (Cook 29, Bell 0) Cook tries to pad up to one that rips from outside leg stump, but other than that there’s nothing of huge note from the over. Looking back at Ballance’s wicket, it seems it wasn’t quite as rippy and yorkie as first looked, but more a bad shot from the batsman.
Kenny writes: “England are surviving rather than really scoring at the moment, but you can’t especially blame them excessively.” Well let’s blame them unexcessively, then. In a similar position McCullum would be going for the win and entertain to boot.”
Well, sure. But that’s not in England’s (current) nature, so you can’t be too surprised.
25th over: England 61-2 - require another 394 runs to win (Cook 29, Bell 0) These guns aren’t especially blazey, it must be said...
WICKET! Ballance b Boult 6 - England 61-2
Lovely shot from Cook pushes the ball down the ground, with a hint of swing from a Boult full one, and they dash through for three. However, Boult then produces an absolute ripper of a yorker, flicking off Ballance’s pads and into the off stump.
Updated
24th over: England 58-1 - require another 397 runs to win (Cook 26, Ballance 6) England are surviving rather than really scoring at the moment, but you can’t especially blame them excessively. A quick single from Cook is all from the over.
More on Alex in London’s suggestion: “Cook would find a way to block the ball.... Also, it’s illegal to not have the wicket keeper keeping wicket. It was on the ask the umpire tms feature on Sunday. Apparently after Brearely did this the laws changed!”
I think - I think - that in that circumstance the wicketkeeper just has to relinquish his gloves and pads. He can be just a normal fielder. Although I’m happy to be corrected on that.
23rd over: England 57-1 - require another 398 runs to win (Cook 25, Ballance 6) Cook clips a single off his pads, then Ballance unleashes an absolute avalanche of runs...ish. He flicks another leg-side ball off his legs and it goes very fine and to the ropes.
Graeme Thorn has been on: “Essentially Alex in London wants Brendan McCullum to do something similar to this. A 77-run over (miscounted, obviously) full of full tosses and no balls to try and entice the chasing side to chase properly. The punchline to this over being that (due to a scoring mistake), they missed out by one run.”
22nd over: England 52-1 - require another 403 runs to win (Cook 24, Ballance 2) “Runs for Ballance,” is, as it turns out, up there with the most wonderful things to hear Mikey Holding say, along with “Wow” and “Back in the hutch.” Yer man gets off the mark with a prod from a widish ball down the leg side. Craig then tries over the wicket, but Ballance deals with that a rather more comfortably.
21st over: England 50-1 - require another 405 runs to win (Cook 24, Ballance 0) First real iffy shot from Cook as he prods outside off at one that may have kept a little low. Good bowling this from Boult, wh...oh, as I type that he drops short and Cook cuts through the covers for a couple.
Updated
20th over: England 48-1 - require another 407 runs to win (Cook 22, Ballance 0) A run! Look at that. Cook jabs one through the covers for a single. Ballance smothers the rest of the over, but he doesn’t look especially comfortable. Like a man playing with a bat he thinks is going to disintegrate whenever the ball hits it.
19th over: England 47-1 - require another 408 runs to win (Cook 21, Ballance 0) Ballance’s technique of hanging back in his crease and dangling his bat around off stump might well work for him, but it’s doing nothing for my blood pressure. Another maiden, and here’s Alex in London with a suggestion:
“Presumably New Zealand would do just about anything to get a result today, as there’s not much point losing the series 1-0. Brendon McCullum seems an adventurous sort. So, why not station his wicket keeper on the boundary behind the stumps, have his bowlers run up, and bowl three overs of full tosses to him which he catches over the ropes? Hey presto, 108 runs in wides added to England’s total in double quick time, virtually no damage to the new ball, and surely not even a conservative captain like Cook could turn down the gauntlet of a suddenly very achievable run chase.”
18th over: England 47-1 - require another 408 runs to win (Cook 21, Ballance 0) Craig nearly pins Cook with an absolutely belting quicker arm ball, but the skipper does fairly well to keep it out. He then can’t get away the rankest and longest and hoppest of rank long-hops, and it’s another maiden.
Updated
17th over: England 47-1 - require another 408 runs to win (Cook 21, Ballance 0) Last ball of the over, that. And England have sent in Ben Stokes to give it a biff!
Just kidding. It is of course Gary Ballance.
@NickMiller79 10.30 starts in England not usually permitted because of dew on the grass I thought. Particularly in early season matches
— Reuben Powell (@ReubenPowell) June 2, 2015
Updated
WICKET! Lyth c Ronchi b Boult 24 - England 47-1
More stout defence from Lyth, who hasn’t played an attacking shot since the first ball of the day, which he missed. Not that this is necessarily a big gripe, since we’d all whine if he took a big hoy and one and looped it down long leg’s throat. But the problem is that you’re always likely to get one with your name on it, and Boult sends down a lovely delivery that shapes away just enough to catch the edge and go through to Ronchi. He could’ve left it on length, but let’s praise the bowler there.
Updated
16th over: England 47-0 - require another 408 runs to win (Lyth 24, Cook 21)
Cook, as is the up side of having a man like him at the crease, isn’t tempted by McCullum’s dastardly plans to get him sweeping massively. Another maiden.
Updated
15th over: England 47-0 – require another 408 runs to win (Lyth 24, Cook 21) It’s Boult from the other end, and Cook isn’t exactly playing like a man going all out for the win. One nod to attack is a drive that’s stopped in the covers, but they pick up three via a squirt from a defensive prod that goes just past fourth slip.
@NickMiller79 Joe Root, last night https://t.co/aDFMDoRxQ2
— Dan Lucas (@DanLucas86) June 2, 2015
Updated
14th over: England 44-0 – require another 411 runs to win (Lyth 24, Cook 18) Craig is the man to start for New Zealand, and it’s a mixed bag of an over. A couple of long-hops aren’t punished by Lyth, he loses grip of one that floats towards mid-wicket and is called dead, then the next is the perfect offie-to-a-leftie delivery, turning past a prodded edge. Maiden, though.
Updated
Few technical gremlins around today, so apologies in advance if things go briefly squiffy.
“Why don’t they start at 1030? Get another 8 overs in,” asks Chris Evans. Probably not that one. Or that one. Or the one that runs Go Faster Stripe productions company. Might be that one I suppose.
It’s probably a combination of the demands of TV (although there were the days when TV dictated play started at 10.30, so they’d have time for 17 breaks for the bloody horse racing and be done in time for Hollyoaks) and cricket being ‘stuck in its ways.’ Still, with floodlights and so forth, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Shouldn’t...
Updated
So, the weather. It doesn’t exactly look glorious in Leeds, but crucially it’s not raining. Yesterday there was a huge, alien ship from Independence Day style bank of rain settling fairly close to West Yorkshire, but not today...
Quick reminder that it’s £5 (five pounds!) to get in today. Free (free!) if you’re a whelp of an under-16 whipper-snapper. And you might see something remarkable. Of course you might just be sitting out in the Yorkshire wind and rain for a day. But that could be fun too.
Weather, eh? Annoying, isn’t it? All types of weather really (wind, heat, humidity and so forth), but particularly weather that prevents us playing cricket. Therefore, yesterday’s weather in Leeds was particularly irksome because it has taken the edge off what could have been a really, really quite entertaining final two days of a Test match. Sure, England require a massive load of runs to win, but on a pitch that has proven lively but perhaps a little unresponsive when the shine goes off the ball, with two openers looking good and (despite the first innings collapse) a middle order capable of scoring a massive load of runs...well, they had a chance to win.
Not really so much anymore. Now they have but a day to score 411 runs, which of course is possible in 90-odd overs, but requires the sort of heavy attacking and derring-do that one does perhaps not associate with Alastair Cook’s approach to the game.
But hang on though, what’s this? Why, it’s Cook’s vice-captain Joe Root!
“There is quite a bit of work to do but we’ve got an opportunity to do something special. We’re positive, we’ve got off to a great start and hopefully that can continue. The rain coming in has made things a little harder for us but we’ve got every intention of going out with a view to win the game.
“[It will take] guys doing what they do best and being very ruthless in the way they do it. Someone has obviously got to stand up and play a really important innings. But it is still a good pitch and we got off to a reasonable start ourselves, so fingers crossed we can come out in the morning all guns blazing.
All guns blazing, eh? Well, perhaps we could be on for something really quite special...
Updated
Simon will be here soon enough. While you wait here is Mike Selvey’s report from yesterday’s action. Enjoy.
A good game has been spoiled. The rain that washed in from over the Pennines shortly after lunch precluded any further play on the fourth day of another scintillating Test, depriving New Zealand of an opportunity to make inroads into the England second innings (although the game is still there to be won by them on the final day) but almost certainly derailing any real prospect England may have had of a record score to win a Test. Now there is probably only one potential winner.
The cricket that did take place in the morning was as exhilarating as any that had preceded it in this most entertaining of series, with New Zealand’s lower-order batsmen making merry against England bowlers who broke ranks and lost discipline under a fierce assault.
Resuming on 338 for six, a strong position but by no means secure, New Zealand scored a further 116 runs in 16 overs before Brendon McCullum called them in immediately after Stuart Broad had conceded 19 runs from an over. BJ Watling, an overnight centurion, went on to make 120 before falling to the second new ball, but Mark Craig hit a merry unbeaten 58 and Tim Southee a clobbering 40 from 24 balls before Matt Henry cracked a couple of sixes to finish things off, the eighth player in the innings to clear the boundary.
