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Saturday, December 21, 2024  
18 Jumada Al-Akhirah 1446  

New Zealand lead by 41 at lunch on fourth day

England added just 66 runs for their final five wickets leaving the game balanced
New Zealand’s Trent Boult celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England’s Matthew Potts.
Photo by: Reuters
New Zealand’s Trent Boult celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England’s Matthew Potts. Photo by: Reuters

NOTTINGHAM: New Zealand had a 41 run lead at lunch on the fourth day of the second test after they rattled through England’s lower order on Monday to bowl the host’s out for 539 with Trent Boult taking five wickets.

England added just 66 runs for their final five wickets leaving the game nicely balanced and they picked up an early second innings breakthrough with Tom Latham bowled by James Anderson.

Anderson’s 650th career test wicket was helped by Latham’s ill-judged decision to leave the ball but the England seamer and his partner Stuart Broad will be encouraged by the seam movement they found before lunch. New Zealand were 27 for one at the interval.

There had been little encouragement for the seamers on the opening three days of this test with Joe Root and Ollie Pope both making the most of the favourable batting surface to make centuries on Sunday.

Root, resuming on 163 looked in positive mood and his audacious, Twenty20 style ‘scoop’ of Tim Southee indicated he wanted to progress at haste.

But Root had added just 13 runs when he drove Boult to Southee at extra-cover and New Zealand wasted no time in exposing England’s tail.

Stuart Broad’s edge off spinner Michael Bracewell was superbly caught one-handed by Daryl Mitchell and then Ben Foakes’ useful innings ended on 56 after he was run-out following a mix-up with Matthew Potts.

Potts was then bowled by a lovely inswinger from Boult and Bracewell picked up his third wicket to end England’s innings with James Anderson stumped and a New Zealand lead of 14.

Boult ended with figures of 5-106, the tenth five wicket haul of his test career and the fifth time he has reached that mark against England.

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