Vic's report from Christchurch
With the sun starting to rise in London, it’s time for me to sign off.
An excellent day’s Test cricket. Jonny Bairstow completed a brilliant century, his fifth in Tests, then Stuart Broad returned to something close to his best. But, having had NZ 35 for five, the day slipped away from England thanks to a brilliant record partnership of 142 from BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme. Broad got CdG, but Watling is still there, and feels the key player tomorrow. The debutant Jack Leach bowled very tidily, for those wondering.
Rob Smyth and I will be back to bring you that, and Vic Marks’ report will be online before long. Speak tomorrow, thanks for your company.
Stumps: New Zealand 192-6
No one is complaining as the players leave the field. Umpires seemed to feel it wasn’t safe to bowl short in the gloaming, so the players came off. That’s stumps.
So, New Zealand remain 115 behind. A compelling day. England dominated the first half, New Zealand the second. A belting third day awaits.
74.5 overs: New Zealand 192-6 (Watling 77, Southee 13) Lots more short stuff in the dark from Wood. Southee is in a tangle first ball, with short leg taking a catch off the thigh pad. No dice. Southee is trying to “access the legside” and is almost bowled round his legs as he hops across! He gets off strike with one to square leg, and Watling cops some similar treatment. They know what’s coming.
And, with a ball left of the over, the umpires are taking the players off...
74th over: New Zealand 191-6 (Watling 77, Southee 12) Broad, then, hunting a fifth. Watling knows he needs to be there at the close and has turned defensive. There’s one very sharp single to short leg – Bairstow’s shy isn’t close but it might well have been a run out had it been better. Southee pinches a single from the last too.
73rd over: New Zealand 189-6 (Watling 76, Southee 11) This could be great fun. Wood digging it in, Southee taking it on. Round one is won by Southee, with a nice swat evading the two men back. He sways the next, which is very short. A third man goes out, and he sways again, before being struck on the arm-guard by one he was leaving. In goes silly-point, and there’s a big swing and miss. Amazingly, with all these men back, Southee has ended the over as he started it, by just popping it in a tiny gap for four. One of the fielders should probably have just owned that.
Between overs, Southee is having his elbow looked at. Seemed sore...
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72nd over: New Zealand 181-6 (Watling 76, Southee 3) Southee gets himself off strike with a very ugly shovel to a Broad short ball. There’s another low edge from Watling; his soft hands mean these just won’t carry. There’s just one from another good over.
Worth noting that 16 wickets have fallen in this match, and to only four bowlers: Southee (6), Boult (4), Broad (4) and Anderson (2). More in it for the best bowlers, but also those who get first use.
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71st over: New Zealand 180-6 (Watling 76, Southee 2) Suddenly it’s a nice time for Wood to bowl. Watling cannot afford to do anything silly, and Southee is fresh to the crease. It’s a maiden, the final ball of which takes a thick edge of Watling’s bat but falls just short of the cordon.
There’s some really dark clouds about. We probably won’t get through 10 more overs.
70th over: New Zealand 180-6 (Watling 76, Southee 2) Southee in, then. There is an opening for England here, with a bit of new ball action first thing in the morning. Southee is off the mark with an angled bat through gully. A short ball ends the over and really troubles him.
A word for de Grandhomme, who batted brilliantly. He and Watling put on a record 142. He fell to a slightly tired shot, but it did just move a touch.
Wicket! De Grandhomme c Bairstow b Broad 72 (NZ 178-6)
Broad’s back and strikes second ball! He has four. It just nibbles a touch, de Grandhomme drives and he’s caught behind!
Now, Broad doesn’t have a Test five-fer since January 2016. Now would be a really handy time to pick another up by stumps...
69th over: New Zealand 176-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 72) Stokes bowled three overs for five runs, but Wood is back on now. Broad has not bowled for what feels like an age. It’s another tight over, with just two from it. This is now the highest sixth wicket stand for New Zealand against England... 142.
68th over: New Zealand 176-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 72) England will be fairly happy that New Zealand are going nowhere fast; there’s not been a boundary for nearly 10 overs. Anderson’s continuing to his very offside field, and de Grandhomme is still resisting. Leaving more than you might expect him to, and this is a maiden.
Stokes' value to England is not only that he gives this team a fifth bowling option and precious balance but he is arguably the most adept at swinging the old ball. In his first two overs he found more swing than Wood, Anderson or Broad have after the 25th over. #NZvEng pic.twitter.com/ecWoIaHrhq
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) March 31, 2018
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67th over: New Zealand 176-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 72) Stokes is into his third over, and he’s looking good. He sneaks one past CdG’s outside edge and, after a single, wangs in a bouncer to Watling. His run is slower than usual, but he’s still getting it down at a decent lick. One from it.
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66th over: New Zealand 175-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 71) Gah! Anderson’s first ball after drinks, which is wide of off-stump, draws an edge from Watling, but it bounces short of Bairstow. Mid-on is the only fielder on the legside by the looks of things, while the covers are rammed. Jimmy will hang it outside off. England’s best chance of a decent first innings lead (say 50) is to keep things really tight until the new ball, take it in the morning and try to skittle the tail. It’s certainly been a new ball pitch so far. This is a maiden.
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65th over: New Zealand 175-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 71) Stokes’s line to CdG is dull: he’s trying to probe away outside off stump. Big Colin is very restrained today and the result of that is a maiden, and drinks. England won’t mind that.
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64th over: New Zealand 175-5 (Watling 74, de Grandhomme 71) It’s got rather dark at Hagley Oval. There are two singles from this Anderson over, the second because of an excellent bit of fielding from Leach, running round at mid-on. Would have been four without his diving stop.
Henry Wood writes:
England are so depressing these days whether bowling or batting.. you check in as they’re bowling and it’s 29-4 and so a couple hours later you check in again thinking ‘maybe it’s at best 120-8 or something but no, it’s 170-5 or so. Or maybe England are 78-1 and you check in a couple hours later thinking ‘maybe 300-5 or so’, but no, all out for 129.
Just popping in and out is better than watching the whole thing, I reckon...
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63rd over: New Zealand 173-5 (Watling 73, de Grandhomme 70) So Stokes is on, and second ball there’s a big appeal! Caolin de Grandhomme is beaten by one that nips back. It pins him on the pad and carries through. The decision is not out, England send it upstairs, and they will have two bites at the cherry - caught behind and lbw. He didn’t hit and it went over. Not out.
Stokes is a little stiff here but has the ball doing a bit. If they could get four overs of him this evening England would be very happy I reckon. CdG takes one off the third ball (which measures 141kph), then Watling gets a single. The over ends with a scuffed pull for two by CdG.
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Here we go! Stokes is having a bowl...
62nd over: New Zealand 169-5 (Watling 72, de Grandhomme 67) Anderson has another. With some funky fields, he’s trying to bore Watling out. It’s another maiden.
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61st over: New Zealand 169-5 (Watling 72, de Grandhomme 67) No Stokes yet. More Leach. Three dots round the wicket to CdG, then he goes over and one of the slips goes to short leg. Three more dots make a maiden.
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60th over: New Zealand 169-5 (Watling 72, de Grandhomme 67) Ben Stokes is loosening up, says Bumble as Anderson charges in again. He sure is, and it’s quite concerted. Anderson’s just probing away around de Grandhomme’s off-stump and there’s just one single from the over. It’s 5pm in Christchurch, some clouds are fathering and the shadows are lengthening.
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59th over: New Zealand 168-5 (Watling 72, de Grandhomme 66) Leach, bald and bespectacled, is just gently changing his pace and flight. No luck yet, but he’s bowled well. Four! That’s Watling’s favourite shot, and it’s gone very square on the slog-sweep. Shot.
Time for some Broad I reckon.
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58th over: New Zealand 163-5 (Watling 68, de Grandhomme 65) Anderson, as he wants, gets a look at CdG. There’s a big play and miss outside off stump as he starts with four dots. A single to leg follows then Watling leaves the last.
Finbar Anslow has been in touch with a good point and a good question.
“Good morning, it’s nearly 6am here in Cabella Ligure where I’m just about to embark on a 4 hour drive across Italy for my friend’s marriage (congratulations Antonio and Veronica) I thought Coverton’s exclusion was a bit harsh, and when was the last time we saw 2 Somerset players in the side?”
Big Craig did OK in Auckland, but they clearly felt they really needed to shuffle the pack and Wood is a little different. My best guess re Somerset is 2003, and Richard Johnson’s last Test. Tres, of course, was the other...
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57th over: New Zealand 162-5 (Watling 68, de Grandhomme 64) Leach just keeps plugging away. CdG takes one through the covers, and that’s it for a very tidy over.
Quite.
England have found a host of ways to lose matches over the last two years: having the opposition 36 for 5 in reply to 307 would be a good one to add to the collection #NZvENG
— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) March 31, 2018
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56th over: New Zealand 161-5 (Watling 68, de Grandhomme 63) Anderson’s back! England could really do with him breaking this partnership. He’s been given two slips and a gully, but Watling just drives him down the ground – perhaps off the inside edge – for four. And then four more through the covers! The old ball is doing nowt.
To be fair, England lost three times in a year in 2016-17 having posted 400 or more in the first innings! Re Morgan – he has indeed been an excellent white-ball captain for England. Probably their best in those formats.
@willis_macp
— Jim (@Filmandwriting) March 31, 2018
This could have an affect on the England top order if NZ come back to win. They will say to themselves, even 300 plus up first is not enough anymore. And they aren't getting any of them.
How do you rate Eoin Morgan as a Captain Will one of England's best? Jim
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55th over: New Zealand 153-5 (Watling 60, de Grandhomme 63) They are reeling off stats about Watling’s ability to form big partnerships (two of 350+ and two more of 200+ for the sixth-wicket in Tests), as he sweeps Leach for a really excellent four. This pair are becoming very pesky. The last ball of the over is driven down the ground for one, and cut off well by Root.
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54th over: New Zealand 148-5 (Watling 55, de Grandhomme 63) Wood is still hammering it in at Watling. Over the wicket at the moment, and without his silly point. Still lots of men close. There’s a backfoot drive for three, which is fielded by Liam Livingstone, on the field for someone or other.
Now de Grandhomme has got lucky! It’s not that short and he’s had a huge hoick, which goes off the top edge and into no man’s land for two on the legside.
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53rd over: New Zealand 143-5 (Watling 52, de Grandhomme 61) Shot! Leach is going over the wicket to Watling, and he’s slog-swept him for six! That takes him to 50. A classy knock from 125 balls. Gritty, and tough. After a single, de Grandhomme resists smacking Leach again...
Comms have noticed that Leach is from the George Bailey, Tymal Mills school of folks who throw with the wrong hand. He lobs it in right handed but bowls left arm. Eh? Can you think of any others?
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52nd over: New Zealand 136-5 (Watling 44, de Grandhomme 61) Watling is going back and across. Might actually be worth a leg-stump yorker. Most of them are short, and now Wood is going over the wicket. Watling pulls! It wasn’t totally in control but he gets away with it and they take one, which brings up the 100 partnership. Absolutely vital, this. Good over from Wood in an absorbing passage of play.
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51st over: New Zealand 135-5 (Watling 44, de Grandhomme 61) Leach, once more, is just playing on Big Colin’s patience. Pleasingly, Leach looks like he could bowl all day at this level and not leak too many. He’s slipping along at about two an over at the moment. He draws a big play and miss on the drive, and then gets a big miscue! It’s gone for four, but it’s a big outside edge and it flies to short extra cover’s left and trickles away! A plan so nearly came together and England will be encouraged by that.
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50th over: New Zealand 131-5 (Watling 44, de Grandhomme 57) CdG gets himself off strike, and Wood gets stuck into Watling again. He has a wee swing at another bumper, and misses. The last four are ducked, weaved, and generally played better. He’s stepping over to the offside and trying to get right out of the way.
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49th over: New Zealand 130-5 (Watling 44, de Grandhomme 56) Fun to watch Leach to de Grandhomme here. Skill on both sides, and CdG gets off strike with a drive that splits the field. For Watling, Leach goes over the wicket. Ouch. He slog-sweeps hard and, at short-leg, Mark Stoneman has worn one just below the elbow. He’s hard as hell, but that hurts. Anyway, he saves four and it’s just one from the over.
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48th over: New Zealand 129-5 (Watling 44, de Grandhomme 55) Wood is bombing Watling. There’s a man in close on both sides of the bat (Root is the silly point), and a legslip. He’s round the wicket and, with no protection in the covers, he swats a cut away for four when the ball’s there. Literally no one from gully to mid-on apart from that silly point. The last ball of the over is a bouncer that troubles Watling. He just rides it.
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47th over: New Zealand 125-5 (Watling 40, de Grandhomme 55) Two slips and two shortish extra covers for Leach to CdG. Get him driving! He nudges two to leg. This is de Grandhomme’s longest Test innings – even his century only lasted 74 balls. He’s 90 for his 55 here, and is battling to play against type. It’s impressive stuff.
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Here goes for that final session then. BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme having a bat, and Leach to continue with the ball.
We’re about five minutes away from the start of a fascinating 35-over final session. I imagine James Anderson will get us going, perhaps alongside Leach, who has started really nicely.
Here’s a piece on David Warner’s slightly strange, slightly sad press conference that left more questions than answers. Everything is rather out of hand now.
Good session that. Anderson got Williamson early on, but since Watling and de Grandhomme have been excellent in putting on 87 and frustrating England. New Zealand’s session.
Back in a tick.
That's tea!
46th over: New Zealand 123-5 (Watling 40, de Grandhomme 53) Well that Root experiment lasted just one very poor over. Wood’s back! He bangs one in to de Grandhomme, who plays that nice controlled pull for one that he’s been doing. For Watling, Wood goes round the wicket with a short leg and a leg slip. A silly point goes in too, but Watling’s up to the challenge. He’s played really well.
45th over: New Zealand 122-5 (Watling 40, de Grandhomme 52) Leach has got through 10 overs on debut now, and not one of them has been poor. This one is very tidy, and ties CdG down on and around off-stump from round the wicket. He takes a single off the last ball, and we will have one more over before tea.
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44th over: New Zealand 121-5 (Watling 40, de Grandhomme 51) The skipper is having a bowl! Tea is nearing, and Broad has popped off the field, so Root is coming on. From round the wicket, he’s very lucky not to be wided first ball. But de Grandhomme gets a single, then Watling sweeps four very well. That was a gimme from Root. And again. That’s pants. Four more on the sweep, and nine from the over.
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43rd over: New Zealand 112-5 (Watling 31, de Grandhomme 50) There’s just one single in this latest Leach over, but it’s a relevant one: it’s Colin de Grandhomme’s fifty! It’s taken 75 balls and has been a really clever knock. He came out swinging, but has been measured since. His battle with Leach at the moment is utterly absorbing. He brought up the milestone with a gentle drive into the gap on the offside.
The weather looks lovely over the next few days, although daylight saving ends in New Zealand tonight so there may be some light issues late in the remaining days. But they are starting an hour earlier to counter that.
@willis_macp
— Jim (@Filmandwriting) March 31, 2018
Any idea how the weather is over the next three days Will? Could be interesting if they stay in there. Stokes is a great man for a Yorker, except in T20's. Surely an inswinging Yorker would skittle one or two tail enders. Jim Dublin
42nd over: New Zealand 111-5 (Watling 32, de Grandhomme 49) Fly slip, four men back in the deep on the legside, round the wicket. Broad is going short against de Grandhomme again. Ha. He’s managed to paddle four very fine, evading all those fielders. New Zealand, by the way, have avoided the follow-on. He gently pulls another to move to 49. Again, the plan totally changes for Watling. The impish keeper blocks and leaves his way through the rest of the over.
Good stat.
Here's something new: on day 2 at Hagley a ball has turned. Jack Leach beats the Big Man - de Grandhomme - with one which turned to beat the shot. This is a seam bowlers ground. 81 of 83 wkts taken by NZ in 4-1/2 tests here have gone to the fast-medium men.
— David Leggat (@legslip1) March 31, 2018
There’s a little over 10 minutes until tea, by the way.
41st over: New Zealand 106-5 (Watling 32, de Grandhomme 44) Big Colin gets himself off strike without having a big hoick at Leach, then Watling turns one to leg. De Grandhomme’s turn to midwicket then sees them scamper two. The over ends with another single. Tidy, though.
Tom Bancroft (any relation?) has the subject line “De Grandhomme” to his email, which reads: “Is his name the French equivalent of Longfellow, Oldman, or Bigman?”
Bigman, I always like to think. But the fact that he’s CdG always makes me think of Charles de Gaulle.
40th over: New Zealand 101-5 (Watling 31, de Grandhomme 40) Right, a chance of tack from Broad for CdG. He’s going round the wicket and sticking heaps of men back on the legside. No prizes for guessing the plan. He gets in a tangle to the second bouncer and it deflects off something or other to third man for a legbye. The field completely changes for Watling, with Root employing old suicide gully in really close on the line of third slip. That’s a good position – the edges England have found since the ball went soft have not been carrying. Watling’s defence is resolute.
Sachin Paul has a question. “Time to give Stokes’ “golden arm” a go?” he asks. “The match is slowly heading to equality if we can’t get a wicket now.”
I wonder if Stokes might be tempted to have a couple of overs. He’s apparently been bowling in the warm-ups. New Zealand are still a long way behind the game – Southee is in next...
39th over: New Zealand 100-5 (Watling 31, de Grandhomme 40) This intriguing little battle between Leach and Big Colin continues, with ever more flight. There’s a brave leave early on, and a couple of good stops by English fielders. The batsman splits the infield with a big drive, but there’s a man back and he just gets one. A nice little premeditated sweep from Watling ruins a good over from Leach. It’s tickled away fine for four. Nicely played.
38th over: New Zealand 95-5 (Watling 27, de Grandhomme 39) This partnership has been chugging along for 100 minutes or so, but England have pulled some greater control back in the last few minutes. Broad is bowling well to Watling, who gets four with an uppish drive that the bowler can’t quite reach. An edge runs along the ground to second slip, then Broad swings one back in to Watling. Nice bowling.
37th over: New Zealand 91-5 (Watling 23, de Grandhomme 39) It’s been a really promising start from Leach, and it’s more of the same here. He’s trying to tempt a big shot out of CdG, and is confident enough to boss the fielders – including his captain – about. The upshot is second maiden. Really good. How long can de Grandhomme resist?
36th over: New Zealand 91-5 (Watling 23, de Grandhomme 39) CdG scuffs a pull of Broad for one to begin the new over. He still has three slips, which is good. Watling is tied down a touch, and at one stage looks like he might just chip it back to the bowler. No dice, and it’s just one from a very good over.
I should say, if you’d like to contact me, you can (please do!): I’m on twitter @willis_macp and can be emailed at the ever so cumbersome will.macpherson.freelance@guardian.co.uk.
35th over: New Zealand 90-5 (Watling 23, de Grandhomme 38) Two covers in for CdG now, and one is Cook, who dives well to stop both the first two drives. Leach floats it up even more, and Colin has a huge swing and miss! That ragged, and Stokes pulled off a brilliant one-handed stop at slip! Very good bowling. Big Colin pushes to mid-off for one off the fifth, so short leg goes back in for Watling. Dot.
34th over: New Zealand 89-5 (Watling 23, de Grandhomme 37) “You really are a dropkick at times, aren’t you?” says Ian Smith to Mike Atherton, as he questions the former Kiwi keeper’s physique. As they chat away about the merits of Smith’s shape, Broad hones in on Watling’s front pad. He finally steals a single off the fourth ball, and that brings up the fifty partnership! What an important one it is. Big Colin turns two more to leg, and the over ends with a very tight single to mid-off. Root’s shy is unsuccessful.
33rd over: New Zealand 85-5 (Watling 22, de Grandhomme 34) More Leach. It’s ben a nice tidy start from him. Mid-off is three-quarters of the way back for CdG, and Leach tosses a tempter or two up. No nibble. He drives the fifth ball hard to that man at mid-off’s right and they take one. Leach drops a touch short with the last – his first poor ball – and Watling cuts three. He likes that shot, does BJ.
32nd over: New Zealand 81-5 (Watling 19, de Grandhomme 33) So Broad it is. He has three for 18, which are very handy figures. CdG’s instinct would be to whack it, but he leaves a couple then pinches a single into the legside. Watling leaves one, and then has a poke outside off and it drops just short of third slip! Diving full length, Vince couldn’t quite get there. Good over.
David Warner is talking to us again. And it all sounds fair enough really.
1/3 I know there are unanswered questions and lots of them. I completely understand. In time i will do my best to answer them all. But there is a formal CA process to follow.
— David Warner (@davidwarner31) March 31, 2018
2/3 I am taking advice to make sure I properly comply with that process and answer all questions in the proper place and at the proper time.
— David Warner (@davidwarner31) March 31, 2018
3/3 I should have mentioned that in my press conference I’m sorry for not making it clearer. With so much at stake for my family and cricket I have to follow this process properly. I think that’s fair.
— David Warner (@davidwarner31) March 31, 2018
Hiya! Will here, to guide you through the last 50 overs of the day. All being well, there should just be 48 overs, what with a change of innings and all. That’s tempting fate for you. Anyway, Broad – who was excellent earlier – is coming on.
And with that, I shall depart. Your friend and mine Will Macpherson will take you through the rest of the day, and trust me when I tell you, you couldn’t possibly be in better hands. Email Will, or tweet him @Willis_macp
31st over: New Zealand 80-5 (Watling 19, De Grandhomme 32) Excellent to see Leach bowling in spectacles, in the home country of probably the second-best bespectacled cricketer ever, Daniel Vettori. The first of course being Clive Lloyd. Just one from the over, a drive from De Grandhomme out to the cover boundary sweeper. And with that, drinks.
30th over: New Zealand 79-5 (Watling 19, De Grandhomme 31) Great shot by Watling off Anderson, crouching slightly to hit a sort of frontish foot cut just behind point and to the boundary. The rest of the over is more of Anderson’s general standard, a couple of benign edges found.
29th over: New Zealand 75-5 (Watling 15, De Grandhomme 31) Spin! Leach might get a decent bowl now, after his single over before lunch. Watling prods at one that turns and it squirts just wide of slip for a couple, then he turns a single off his pads behind square.
28th over: New Zealand 72-5 (Watling 12, De Grandhomme 31) Beauty of a shot from De Grandhomme, a sort of half front-foot drive that flashes through the covers to the boundary. Root then takes himself out of the slips and to short cover, only for inevitably De Grandhomme to edge through exactly where Root was - along the ground, which takes the edge off a little, but still four runs.
27th over: New Zealand 64-5 (Watling 12, De Grandhomme 23) Wood continues around the wicket, a pseudo leg theory field in place, which he tries for three balls then reverts to over. Watling swats a shortish one outside off but doesn’t time it properly - still, he gets two runs for it.
26th over: New Zealand 62-5 (Watling 10, De Grandhomme 23) More of the same from Anderson, who De Grandhomme seems to have abandoned the counter-attack plan against. He beats the edge with a lovely one, then De Grandhomme very nearly gets himself into a terrible fuzzy when leaving one just outside off.
25th over: New Zealand 62-5 (Watling 10, De Grandhomme 23) Wood continues, he keeps going short but still no joy. Watling gets three through the covers with a nice back-foot punch, De Grandhomme dabs a single. Wood then tries around the wicket, and that time does get Watling jumping all over the place with the first, then nails him in the side of the head with a riser. Watling says he’s OK, but the protector at the back of the helmet flew off and the physio runs on just to be sure everything is fine. The psychology of bowlers who hit a batsman on the head must be interesting: you absolutely must think twice, or maybe take a bit off the next short delivery.
24th over: New Zealand 58-5 (Watling 7, De Grandhomme 22) Uneventful over from Anderson, the only action to speak of being De Grandhomme flicking a couple down to fine leg.
23rd over: New Zealand 56-5 (Watling 7, De Grandhomme 20) More short stuff from Wood to De Grandhomme. One goes up in the air, but Broad dashing in from fine leg can’t get to the catch (it drops short of his dive), they get two runs and Broad treads on and demolishes his sunglasses as he retrieves the ball. Nightmare.
22nd over: New Zealand 53-5 (Watling 7, De Grandhomme 17) As it turns out De Grandhomme picks up a single from the first ball, then Watling plays out the remainder of the over, featuring two pretty fruity leaves that don’t miss off stump by a huge amount.
21st over: New Zealand 52-5 (Watling 7, De Grandhomme 16) De Grandhomme looks like he’s got counter-attackin’ on his mind. He absolutely nails a pull off Wood past deep backward square, who wasn’t that far away from where it crossed the boundary but the fielder had no chance. England look like they’re going to try buying his wicket, sticking a man just in front of square, one behind and one at a more traditional fine leg. It costs them another eight runs though, Wood not helping matters by bowling a couple of fairly tame long-hops that De Grandhomme batters to the fence, twice in about the same spot.
The plan then changes, as another slip comes in and Wood pitches it up. De Grandhomme nicks a single from the final ball, which shows he wants the strike to hit back, but countering against Anderson might be a rather different proposition to playing Wood.
20th over: New Zealand 39-5 (Watling 7, De Grandhomme 3) De Grandhomme plays a couple of flicks off his pads, one unconvincing - it looped up but dropped short of mid-on - one rather better, earning him his first two runs down to fine leg. He picks up another with a dab into the covers.
WICKET! Williamson c Bairstow b Anderson 22 - New Zealand 36-5
Oh Kane! New Zealand’s best batsman goes to a strangle down the leg side, wafting at a ball that would have comfortably gone past his thighs, getting a tickle on it in the process and Bairstow takes the catch. Biiiiiiig problems now.
19th over: New Zealand 36-4 (Williamson 22, Watling 7) Wood starts from the other end: slightly odd one, considering he did basically nothing in his four morning overs. He digs some in, potentially thinking he can trouble Watling around the ribs. The New Zealand keeper plays them pretty well, though.
18th over: New Zealand 36-4 (Williamson 22, Watling 7) Four runs for Williamson, as Anderson - possibly searching for that away swing - drifts onto his thighs, and it’s flicked around the corner and to the fence.
The players are back out on the field. Anderson will continue, and will be looking for more of the away shape he got before lunch.
Here’s Tom Williams with a haymaker: “It seems that over the past week the Australian cricket team have learnt how to take ‘mental disintegration’ to a new level.”
Here’s a full story on Warner’s press conference...
Back to Christchurch and, unlike David Warner, AB Parker - who yesterday advocated wholesale changes including binning Broad - is on with a convincing mea culpa: “Well, Broad has proved me wrong within one day. Cricket, eh?”
Whoever the Cricket Australia media person is seems to be making sure everyone is only asking one question, but nobody has followed up on that deliberately evasive answer about whether anyone else is involved. When asked if he things he’s been made a scapegoat, he repeats the line about taking responsibility for “my own actions.” He’s eventually ushered out with questions being fired at him as he exits. Sure, you feel a bit sorry for a man whose career might well be over - he was asked if he’s going to retire, and answered that he was going to think about what will come - but that was entirely unsatisfactory.
By the by, David Warner is giving his press conference. Says he takes full responsibility for his actions, gives apologies to everyone, says he’s resigned to the fact that he may never play for Australia again. Much like Steve Smith, he breaks down in tears, in particular when he mentions his family.
He takes questions, but basically just repeats the same soundbite about taking responsibility for his actions, and quite pointedly dodges a question about whether anyone other than the three players we already know about were involved in this whole thing.
Lunch: New Zealand 32-4; England 307
A terrific morning for England’s bowlers. Broad has picked up three wickets and has been superb, but Anderson bowled just as well for one wicket, toying with Raval like my cat with the worms he brings in from the garden. Kane Williamson has steadied the ship, because he’ll do that, but if England can get through him you suspect a healthy first innings lead will be in the bag.
17th over: New Zealand 32-4 (Williamson 18, Watling 7) Whheeeeey - its An Over Of Spin Before Lunch. Jack Leach gets his first bowl in an England shirt, on the button straight away even if there’s not a huge amount of spin. Watling defends and prods, and that’s a maiden to end the session.
16th over: New Zealand 32-4 (Williamson 18, Watling 7) Anderson is back for an over or two before lunch. And immediately there’s some away swing that was missing from the other end. The batsmen trade singles from the over.
15th over: New Zealand 30-4 (Williamson 17, Watling 6) Wood’s in, and goes up big style for lbw against Watling, but it was probably going down leg and might have been a touch high too. Oh, and hotspot shows a little inside edge. Other than that, it was a strong shout. Two singles from the over, and these two batsmen have at least managed to bring a bit more solidity to the innings.
14th over: New Zealand 28-4 (Williamson 16, Watling 5) Broad is in again for his seventh over. Williamson sort of looks squared up by a couple, but at the same time without really looking in danger of losing his wicket. He turns a sharp one just in front of short-leg - for about a millisecond there was a brief thought of a catch - and they dash through for three.
13th over: New Zealand 24-4 (Williamson 13, Watling 4) Wood hasn’t really looked massively penetrative. There’s a half-appeal against Williamson for lbw, which is far too high to be about but the NZ skipper will probably think he should have put it away. Each batsman gets a single.
12th over: New Zealand 22-4 (Williamson 12, Watling 3) A relative flood of runs: a single from Williamson, then a nice back-foot punch by Watling through point, and they run three.
“What are the odds of New Zealand are all out for 59?” asks Matthew Doherty. If Williamson goes soon, it might be on...
11th over: New Zealand 18-4 (Williamson 11, Watling 0) New Zealand’s first run since the 7th over comes from the final ball of the 11th, as Williamson flicks a Wood delivery off his thigh for a single.
10th over: New Zealand 17-4 (Williamson 10, Watling 0) Boy, Broad looks good here. New Zealand need a hell of an effort to make anything of their innings from this point, but as long as Williamson stays there is hope.
WICKET! Nicholls lbw b Broad 0 - New Zealand 17-4
He did not hit it! Some nice tail in from Broad catches Nicholls, as it turns out, bang in front of middle/off. New Zealand deep in it now.
Review!
Broad thinks he has Nicholls trapped, there’s some debate about whether he hit it but they eventually decide to review...
9th over: New Zealand 17-3 (Williamson 10, Nicholls 0) A change, as Mark Wood with his lovely smile is into the attack. Williamson leaves most of his over alone, but a sharp bumper does suggest Wood has some pace in him here.
8th over: New Zealand 17-3 (Williamson 10, Nicholls 0) Broad tries a couple of short ones first up to Nicholls, then pitches a few up and beats the bat. Somewhere, Ian Botham is telling someone he told them so.
WICKET! Taylor c Cook b Broad 2 - New Zealand 17-3
Told you he was looking good. Actually this wasn’t a particularly special ball, pitched up just outside off with perhaps a vague hint of away movement, but Taylor launches a pretty ropey drive which he seemed to regret before he finished playing it, and the ball rattles around in Cook’s hands at first slip, but he hangs on.
7th over: New Zealand 17-2 (Williamson 10, Taylor 1) Not that it’s necessarily the end of the world, but thus far Anderson only seems to have got the ball swinging left to right - so away to left-handers, in to righties. Two singles from the over.
“Two candidates for me too,” writes Niall Mullen, on the matter of tailend batting. “Monty (including diving back into his crease) at Cardiff in 2009 and this...”
Which reminds me - I wrote something on a related issue in January: a Joy of Six on 10th-inning partnerships, featuring Marshall’s effort...
Updated
6th over: New Zealand 15-2 (Williamson 9, Taylor 1) Taylor plays a couple of fairly unconvincing drives, then Broad tries to bounce him. Always tricky to judge this sort of thing, but Broad looks like he’s running in smoothly and with purpose, and when he’s doing that he usually takes wickets.
Great tail end innings nomination from Thomas Jenkins. Cannot in all good conscience endorse the final statement, though: “I’m sure that we can all think of bigger scores and many more important innings, but for me there’s no better tale of tail-end romance than McGrath’s 61 against New Zealand. It’s not that it’s the last two batsmen combining together to utterly demoralize the opposition.
“It’s not watching Dizzy unfurl beautiful shots as McGrath looks every inch his average at the start of his innings. It’s watching all of the all-time batting greats in the Aussie dressing room beam with delight and utter incredulity as McGrath somehow morphs temporarily into a batsman capable of consistently playing shots of which any of them would have been proud. It’s watching teammates revel together in the unlikeliest of successes of a clearly beloved team member. We all love to hate the Aussies, but sometimes it’s impossible not to love them too.”
5th over: New Zealand 15-2 (Williamson 9, Taylor 1) Eeesh, that was close to a massive wicket for England. The ball before, new bat Ross Taylor had got off the mark with a tuck behind square-leg.
Not out!
No! He didn’t hit it! But the ball hit Williamson’s pad a gnat’s eyelash outside off stump, so even though with the in-swing it was crashing into middle stump, they stay with Marais Erasmus’s decision.
Updated
Review!
Anderson absolutely screams for lbw against Williamson, but it looked like he hit the cover off the thing. Nevertheless, they go upstairs...
WICKET! Raval c Bairstow b Anderson 5 - New Zealand 14-2
Jeet Raval’s relatively brief but intense nightmare is over: the inevitable happens as he gets a feather edge on one of those quite brilliant Anderson away-shapers, and he can now seek peace in the dressing room.
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4th over: New Zealand 14-1 (Raval 5, Williamson 9) A third three for Williamson, driving through the covers, making batting look rather easy on this strip. Raval then leaves one that takes a coat of paint from the off bail, before finally playing a good stroke, driving past mid-off for yet another three. Then the roles are reversed somewhat, as the previously imperious Williamson firstly gets a leading edge on one that plops just in front of him, then is beaten on the outside twice with a lovely pair of Broad seamers.
3rd over: New Zealand 8-1 (Raval 2, Williamson 6) Obviously I am not one to offer advice to Jimmy Anderson on what sort of line to bowl, but I would recommend that a leg-stump half-volley to Kane Williamson isn’t the best. He’s lucky to only concede three really, as Williamson drives past mid-wicket and the slow outfield keeps it from the ropes. For the remainder of the over, Anderson continues bullying Raval, who is again fortunate not to snick some absolute beauties.
2nd over: New Zealand 4-1 (Raval 1, Williamson 3) Here’s the main man, and he’s away with a tuck into a broadly unpatrolled area of the field, down towards the mid-wicket fence, for which he collects an easy three. Raval squirts a single off a thick inside edge, just past a crouching short-leg.
Meanwhile, an appreciation of Courtney Walsh’s batting, from Robert Wilson: “Guy Hornsby is, of course, quite correct. There are many cherished, spectacular or notably hilarious tailenders of legendary status but no one comes close to Courtney Walsh. That spasmodic masterpiece of a leave (someone described it as being like watching an octopus falling out of a tree) was not unusual. He always batted like that. This superbly, graceful athlete and occasionally terrifying bowler batted like a kitten doing bomb-disposal with wet spaghetti. His frank terror is deeply thrilling. He was the same against the bloody spinners.
“You can’t teach that.”
WICKET! Latham c Bairstow b Broad 0 - New Zealand 0-1
Stu Broad has the ball from t’other end, and he nearly gets through Latham’s defences with his first delivery, a thick inside edge eventually running harmlessly away. But he has more joy with the third one, a full one that just seams a little, Latham drives unconvincingly and Bairstow takes the most regulation of catches. Brilliant start for England.
1st over: New Zealand 0-0 (Raval 0, Latham 0) Anderson starts off with a few balls looking for some swing, and although there isn’t anything extravagant there he beats Raval with the last three of the over that move just enough to have the New Zealand opener grasping. The last one in particular, pitching on about middle, heading for the left-hander’s off and shaping away, was the sort of ball that a batsman just has to shove his bat towards and hope for the best.
Two test hundreds this winter for Bairstow and a couple more in ODIs. Great batting. Four times he’s been caught playing the ramp down to third man, though. Might want to ditch that shot. #nzveng
— daniel norcross (@norcrosscricket) March 30, 2018
The players are out for New Zealand’s reply: Jeet Raval and Tom Latham are the batsmen, Jimmy Anderson has the ball first up.
For what it’s worth, this is the fifth Test at the Hagley Oval and the previous first innings scores have been 441 (New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 2014), 370 (New Zealand vs Australia, 2016), 289 (Bangladesh vs New Zealand, 2017) and 133 (Pakistan vs New Zealand, 2016). Basically impossible to reliably judge whether it’s a good score yet or not. Instinct says it isn’t, but let’s see.
WICKET! Bairstow c Taylor b Boult 101 - England 307 all out
Tough to criticise Bairstow after the innings-saving knock, but he tries to lift a ramp shot from a short ball to the boundary, but in fact just guides it straight to the sort of fly slip thing fielder that Kane Williamson had recently put there for just such an eventuality. Taylor takes a comfortable catch, and England are done.
96th over: England 307-9 (Bairstow 101, Anderson 0) Jimmy Anderson, final man in, keeps out the remaining four balls of the over, if not with the utmost confidence.
WICKET! Leach c Watling b Southee 16 - England 307-9
Terrific bowling from Southee, angling one across Leach which moves away a touch, takes the edge and Watling catches. Six wickets now for Southee, who will record his best analysis (currently 7-64) if he takes the final one sharpish.
95th over: England 306-8 (Bairstow 100, Leach 16) Leach edges the last ball of the over, but short of the slips.
Jonny Bairstow reaches his century
Bairstow goes to 99 with a push in front of point, then is returned to the strike with - good grief - yet another absurd short one that Watling this time just manages to parry. But the next ball, Bairstow nudges through square-leg, runs through for a single and that’s his fifth Test match century. Terrific scenes.
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94th over: England 303-8 (Bairstow 98, Leach 16) Bairstow gets off the mark for the day with a careful push to mid-wicket. Then poor BJ Watling can only wave at another flamboyant bouncer, this time from Southee, and this time that heads to the boundary and brings up the 300 for England. Quite why they weren’t wides is anyone’s guess: Watling essentially has six byes against his name in the last two overs because he isn’t, to paraphrase Richie Benaud, Joel Garner standing on Joel Garner’s shoulders.
Peter Rowntree has a couple of slightly less, erm, ‘mainstream’ selections for the tailenders’ innings riff. “Two candidates for me - the famous ‘chalk rings’ on the bat by Wardle on Ashes debut 1953 at Trent Bridge, when Wardle wound up Lindwall in a way no other cricketer has done. It was outrageously original humour. Then also the partnership of Nixon and Millns for Leicestershire v Lancs, when Lancashire had scored over 500 on the first day, Leicestershire were 138-7, Millns came in as nightwatchman, their number 11, the next day they not only saved the follow-on, Millns was still there near tea-time.”
93rd over: England 298-8 (Bairstow 97, Leach 16) Boult digs one in to Leach, it really lifts on him but the debutant plays it pretty well, keeping it down as best he can. The next ball is a wild legside bouncer that Watling flings himself to his right to try and stop, but can’t and they run two of the harshest byes. Leach then drives at a couple, missing the first but connecting with the second, sending it just in front of point for two.
Not exactly an innings, @NickMiller79 but I could watch this leave by Courtney Walsh all day, especially the finishing pose. Glorious. https://t.co/VHh2kpUI5j
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) March 30, 2018
92nd over: England 294-8 (Bairstow 97, Leach 14) Tim Southee has the ball from the other end, as Bairstow watchfully approaches his century. No runs from the over, despite a couple of positive drives.
Chris Bourne writes: “The tail-end innings that popped into my head was Tim Southee’s exuberant debut vs England in 2008. He made a scorching 77 runs off 42 balls - and took a 5-for during the match as well. It remains his best Test innings but although I’m not a Kiwi, I’d love to see him repeat his heroics one of these days. It was a hopeless cause, but while he was at the crease, with the certainty of a 19-year-old, anything seemed possible.”
91st over: England 294-8 (Bairstow 97, Leach 14) Trent Boult opens up, bowling to Jack Leach, and he’s a little all over the place in his first few balls, one of which heading way down leg is swatted to the fine leg boundary. Leach, with a crouched stance as if he’s contemplating a gardening problem, keeps out a decent yorker from the last ball.
The players are out there, the Hagley Oval is looking utterly wonderful, and cricket is about to happen. Leave the rest of the world for a while and enjoy this.
The thing I hadn’t realised about that innings from big Devon is, he wasn’t batting at 11. Phil Tufnell, of course, took that honour.
“Devon Malcolm at Sydney in 1995,” suggests Peter Lee. “During those long, bleak winters the sight of the archetypal bunny long-handling Warne into the stands was fabulous.”
After Mark ‘The Don’ Wood’s knock yesterday, let’s have your favourite innings by a tailender. An obvious one, but Ashley Giles at the Oval in 2005 will always have the most special place in my heart.
Preach.
If ever there was an antidote to everything going on in the world at the moment it is NZ v ENG at cricket!
— Jon Bell (@jonbellnz) March 30, 2018
Here’s bowler Mark Wood, on batting.
Wood admitted that he started as a batsman as a kid and at the Hagley Oval he played some copybook drives. “The trouble is,” he said, “when I get to 20 I think I’m like Bradman and play too many shots. Sometimes I get ahead of myself. There were a lot of bouncers, especially when Wagner was bowling, and that may have helped. At least I knew where the ball was likely to be.” It was one of those bouncers that Wood cracked over ropes at square leg.
Get yourself up to speed with Vic Marks’s report from day one at the Hagley Oval.
Preamble
Difficult to know what to make of this score so far for England. It feels below par, and it they have reached this point in spite of their top/middle order batsmen rather than because of them. But should the remaining two wickets manage another 60 or 70 runs, then they will at least have something competitive.
Watching Jonny Bairstow score his century, which barring calamities he will do early on, will be suitable reward for those of us who sat through James Vince’s efforts yesterday. And the rest of the top six really, but particularly Vince, the possibly the worst good batsmen to have ever represented England. He played a couple of straight drives yesterday you could frame and put on your wall, but then he was out. Without warning, apart from in every other Test innings he’s ever played.
But enough of Vince. Attention will turn to the bowlers at some point in the next couple of hours, and there are plenty of questions with them as well as the batsmen. Will Ben Stokes bowl? What sort of pace will Mark Wood achieve? How will Jack Leach do on his debut? Will England have to rely on Jimmy Anderson?
Settle in. Start is 11pm BST.
