England in a bit of bovver in New Zealand

[Zidane]

England 307 all out (Bairstow 101)
New Zealand currently 79-5 after being 17-4 !

[tataw]

Thank goodness we sneaked past 58, albeit with the help of a Zimbo

[BobHelm]

NZ 192-for 6 at the end of play - 115 in arrears.
de Grandhomme finally went for 72, but by then him & not out batsman Watling (77) had put respectability back in the New Zealand innings.
Broad (4 for 38 ) & Anderson (2 for 43) proved again what we all know - they are probably 2 of the world's best bowlers if they can bowl with a new ball in ideal English bowling conditions. Sadly after that burst England also showed how inept they can be when bowling conditions are no longer perfect.
That being said Somerset's Jack Leach showed why he should take the spin bowling spot over Moeen Ali. Unfortunately his captain let him down with poor field placing & not giving him a longer bowling spell.

[BobHelm]

NZ all out this morning for 278.
New ball (&early morning) did it again as Broad takes 6 for 54 & Anderson the other 4 for 76.
Lead of 29. Lets see if the England 'top order' can actually make runs this time..

[BobHelm]

Well, with the exception of Cook who went for 14, they did get their acts together.
Stoneman went for 60 & Vince for 76 but neither them or Root (30 no) or Malan 19 (no) really looked anything special as the score really limped along.
At the close - England lead New Zealand by 231 runs with 7 wickets remaining.

[Zidane]

The question is "have Stoneman and Vince done enough to save their test careers ?"
Stoneman was dropped twice and Vince always looks the part but is usually always out the same way playing a rash shot.
Cook has been a great servant for England for many years but this looks like it has been one tour too far for him.Apart from one excellent innings in Australia he's been out cheaply nearly every time.
Livingstone and Hameed deserve their chance and Leach deserves an extended run at the expense of Moeen.
Should Root stay as captain ? Who is there to take over ?

[BobHelm]

Lunch - England lead New Zealand by 307 runs with 5 wickets remaining

Both Malan & Root got to 50 & then out.
Stokes (12) & Bairstow (2) are newly at the crease.
It will be interesting to see if England go for a swift 20/20 style approach to set NZ a difficult target, or just stutter along.
One of the issues England face is that unless Broad & Anderson manage to swiftly get amongst the batsmen then NZ can look very comfortable against everyone else...

[BobHelm]

Well it was an attempt as 20/20, without the runs..
Eventually Bairstow found a bit of a partner with Leach but once Bairstow was out Root immediately declared at 352 for 9 wickets, this gives NZ a target of 381.
I read that 324 against Pakistan is the most NZ have ever managed to chase - so should be fun!!

[BobHelm]

First hurdle effectively negotiated - NZ have reached tea on 34 without loss...

[BobHelm]

Bad light stops play
NZ 42-0

England had been reduced to bowling spin at both ends but even that wasn't enough for the umpires...

[stattointhailand]

Any truth in the rumour that the Kiwi s were using Yellow Tape on the bails

[tataw]

I heard they were tampering with the light

[BobHelm]

New Zealand trail England by 274 runs with 6 wickets remaining

Early wickets for England, but that was what I expected.
Opener Latham still there on 54..
Can still go either way..

[BobHelm]

Tea - New Zealand trail England by 190 runs with 4 wickets remaining

Spinner Leach finally got opener Latham for 83.
New ball just taken but little effect on de Grandhomme (27) or Sodhi (16) who are managing well.
Should be about another 39 overs play today but the pundits reckon it will be less than 20 before bad light stops the show..

[BobHelm]

Well it all fizzled out into a draw.
Far too much short stuff from the England quickies, butter fingers from the fielders when a half decent spin bowler (Jack Leach) managed to do something with the ball.

A very disappointing Test outing down under for England &, sadly, only looking to get worse in the short term..
None of the batsmen did themselves proud & the bowling was never much to write home about either.
Root as captain has let his batting go & has never done anything as the boss to suggest he should keep the role...