England Summe 2022

[alanw]

I don't see what either team is gaining from this. Perhaps it's a good team bonding exercise for the England team.

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On the way to a clean sweep against teh Dutch, meanwhile Jamie Overton plays at Leeds instead of an injured Anderson

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ESPN report maybe reviewing Mitchell when he was plumb may have saved them some runs
#

Lunch New Zealand 325 for 8 (Mitchell 109, Blundell 55) vs England

Daryl Mitchell made history for New Zealand with his third century in consecutive matches, but fell on the stroke of lunch to a fine catch in the deep from Ben Stokes, as England were made to toil for their breakthroughs on the second morning at Headingley.



Despite enjoying another improbable moment of good fortune in the early dismissal of Tom Blundell for 55, it looked set to be unequivocally New Zealand's session as Mitchell and Tim Southee pounded out a brisk eighth-wicket stand of 50 in nine overs.

But, with the interval looming, Stokes played with Mitchell's mind with a series of tempting field changes, then told his spinner Jack Leach to come round the wicket to change the angle. Mitchell duly attempted to take on the vacated straight boundaries, but skewed an outside edge to deep cover, where Stokes himself backtracked to hold onto a vital chance.

It was the end of another superb innings, and one that has now carried his tally for the series to 482 runs in five innings, a record for New Zealand against England. In a slow-burn resumption, he mustered just five runs in the first 15 overs of the day, before unleashing his levers in partnership with the hard-hitting Southee, and went to his latest landmark in now typical fashion, with a high-elbowed launch for six down the ground off Leach.


Even before getting his man in the end, however, Leach had already been causing problems out of the leg-side rough in a sign that runs on the board in this first innings could yet be a decisive factor as this Test wears on. Southee for his part reached the break on 33 from 27 balls, including the 76th six of his remarkably hard-hitting career.

Despite adding the scalp of Michael Bracewell for 13 in the second hour of the morning, it was another session in which England were made to rue the moments that got away, with Mitchell himself receiving another crucial let-off early in his stay.

After resuming on his overnight 78, Mitchell could and should have fallen in Matt Potts' first over of the morning, and for the addition of just two runs. However, after scuffing a full ball towards Joe Root at first slip, Mitchell was saved by the flying glove of the keeper Ben Foakes, who dived across his team-mate and palmed the chance away to safety.

It didn't take long, however, for Potts to get some overdue luck - although the manner in which it arose was contentious in the extreme. For the second time in the match, a glitch in the Decision Review System meant the teams were briefly left with no recourse to reviews, and in the very first over after the umpires had relayed this information to the players, Potts unleashed another surprise inswinger to the steadfast Blundell, who had just notched up his third fifty of the series.

Potts' delivery was very similar, in fact, to the ball to Mitchell that England had fatefully failed to review on day one, but this time umpire Richard Kettleborough upheld the appeal - and as Blundell traipsed off shaking his head, it was clear that he would have taken a second opinion had one been available. To the naked eye, the ball was clearly leg-sided, and there may have been a suspicion of inside-edge too. But at 243 for 6, with the end of New Zealand's most steadfast partnership of the series, it was clearly a pivotal moment of their innings.


England, however, struggled to capitalise on the incision. They had begun the day's play with a 10-over-old ball, but Stokes - who once again chose not to bowl himself - chose to trust the day's opening honours to Potts and Jamie Overton, whose initial four-over burst was typically energetic but arguably less refined than the wily old pro Stuart Broad might have been.

Not for the first time this series, England were also distracted by their concerted efforts to instigate a ball-change - a point on which the umpires did not relent until the 17th over. By that stage, Broad had entered the attack and endured another dropped catch - this time a one-handed effort by Jonny Bairstow, diving across second slip from third to the left-handed Bracewell. But armed at last with his replacement ball, Broad needed two more deliveries to prise Bracewell out in his habitual round-the-wicket fashion, as Zak Crawley this time clung on low at second slip.

For all that Bracewell's departure seemed to be the gateway to New Zealand's lengthy tail, Southee saw it instead as an opportunity to take some lumps out of the England attack. His first scoring shot was a slog off Leach that skimmed inches over Bairstow's head at mid-on, before he moved to within two blows of MS Dhoni's sixes tally with a hoist over backward square. But Mitchell's late misjudgement has handed England a toe-hold going into the afternoon session

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England scoring at 5 an over absolute carnage 261-6

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ESPN view

England 264 for 6 (Bairstow 130*, Overton 89*) trail New Zealand 329 (Mitchell 109, Blundell 55, Leach 5-100) by 65 runs

Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth…there is no spoon. Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Brendon McCullum probably doesn't sit cross-legged on England's dressing-room floor, spouting karmic platitudes while aiming to demonstrate that he is indeed The One. But whatever preposterous mind-tricks he has unleashed on his new England charges, the upshot in the space of three Tests has been already been nothing short of mind-bending.

For if England's victories at Lord's and Trent Bridge were vital and stirring affirmations of McCullum's and Ben Stokes's new and unproven regime, then the fightback that Jonny Bairstow and Jamie Overton produced from the brink of oblivion on the second day at Headingley was surely the moment at which all doubts about the methods to this madness were thoroughly and empirically scotched.

By the close of a thoroughly raucous day, even Headingley's Western Stand - which must have assumed it had seen it all in England's comeback win against Australia three years ago - was finding new hosannahs which with to hail a pair of heroes new and old. Bairstow led the teams from the field with a salute to all corners of his home ground, after his second century in consecutive innings and his fourth of a calendar year that is suddenly beginning to take on epic proportions. As for Overton, he simply followed sheepishly in his wake, head slightly bowed as if bewildered by what he had just witnessed, let alone played an equal part in.

The bald facts of their partnership were startling enough. Not only was their unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 209 the highest in England's Test history, it came from an unconscionable 223 balls, with the two men lumping 33 fours and two sixes between them. The lions' share, inevitably, belonged to the imperious Bairstow, who made last week's 77-ball matchwinner at Trent Bridge seem like a prologue. But the more astonishing performance belonged to his junior partner, a fast bowler on debut who marched back to the dressing-room on 89 not out from 106, just 11 runs shy of only the second first-class hundred of his ten-year professional career.

But then, when you factor in the starting point for their alliance - a grim scoreline of 55 for 6, with New Zealand's greatest seam trio of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner rolling back the years with a reunion for the ages, and the stand takes on genre-bending properties.

Boult, in particular, produced arguably the greatest new-ball spell of his already outstanding career. After New Zealand's first innings had been wound up for 329 in a flurry of wickets either side of lunch - including that of Daryl Mitchell, whose excellent 109 was his third century in as many games, but has already been overshadowed for the third time in a row - Boult tore out of the blocks with a searing display of pace, accuracy and wicked movement both ways.

In the space of his first four overs, he bowled each of England's hapless top three, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley - picking off a different stump for each man as if to highlight the pinpoint nature of his display. Crawley in particular looked a man resigned to his fate as he drove futilely through an inswinger to lose his middle stump - and as he traipsed back to the dressing-room for 6, he was arguably the exception that proved the rule that all of this really is in the mind, after all.

Tim Southee, a lacklustre bystander in last week's Trent Bridge onslaught, then served notice of his enduring qualities by dislodging England's kingpin, to leave England on the canvas at 21 for 4. Four balls after turning Joe Root inside-out for a fat snick through the cordon, he went wider on the crease, speared in the fuller length, and demanded the defensive push as the ball snicked off the edge and into Tom Blundell's gloves.

Out strode Ben Stokes, even at this moment of grim adversity, still pumped with his pre-match exhortations that England would "come harder" and "be entertaining".

"'Fancy doing another Trent Bridge?' was the first thing we said," Bairstow told Sky Sports shortly after the close, and from the moment Stokes galloped to the pitch of his first delivery from Southee to shut down the swing, it was clear that the captain remained true to his overarching philosophy.

In the end, his attempt at a counterattack came a cropper shortly after he'd thumped the 100th six of his Test career, as Wagner - the ideal adversary for a man in such a mood - hit his length with extra venom to induce a spliced drive to mid-off. In the same over, Wagner fired in the inswinger to pin Ben Foakes for a duck, but - in a moment reminiscent of England's failure to review an lbw against Mitchell on the first day - Wagner missed the chance for his third in two overs, when Overton - also on 8 at the time - was pinned in front of leg stump but got away without a second opinion.

No matter, it seemed at the time. And similarly, an early let-off for Bairstow on 27 - dropped by Wagner in his followthrough - surely couldn't have long-term ramifications as England limped to tea on 91 for 6, still a daunting 238 runs adrift.

Ollie Pope loses his off stump, England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test, Headingley, 2nd day, June 24, 2022
Ollie Pope loses his off stump•Getty Images
But then… things just started to happen once again. And not for the first time this series, it was arguably a change of ball for New Zealand that kick-started England's intentions. As Bairstow and Overton settled into the evening session, the harder replacement began to travel harder off a pair of well-primed blades, with Bairstow bringing up a 51-ball fifty with a pair of Root-esque deflections for four through third man - the certainty in the stroke telegraphing the fact that Boult's dramatic lateral movement was beginning to desert him.

Overton at this stage was content to showcase an organised technique, a broad bat on the front foot, and a willingness to go toe-to-toe with the quicks, as befits a man with the build of a heavyweight. But the introduction of Michael Bracewell's spin - nominally a part-time option but now promoted to a frontline option following his relative success at Trent Bridge - was the excuse he needed to unfurl his levers. A massive but beautifully composed launch for six over long-on confirmed that his eye was most definitely in, and by the time Bracewell had been beaten from the attack with 37 runs from four overs, Overton had surpassed his brother Craig's achievement of top-scoring on debut by pumping along to a 68-ball half-century.

And if self-affirmation is the secret of England's renewed success, then that stake in the ground for Overton was all the excuse he needed to take his innings up a notch. Wagner's heavy-metal attitude to adversity is to go short and shorter, but Overton was equal to his bumper by blatting another pull over midwicket for six, and launched two more fours through the covers in three balls to drive him from the attack in a 14-run over.


By now, it's fair to say, Bairstow had his "Jonny eyes" back in. He pumped the lesser-spotted seam of Mitchell through mid-on to march to 97, then one over later, zapped the returning Boult through mid-off to bring up his tenth Test hundred, and his first at Headingley since his last annus mirablis way back in 2016. The remainder of his day passed in a blizzard of aggression, as New Zealand's expectation of a huge lead and a consolation victory frittered away to the hope that someone, somehow, will stop the pain.

And by the end of a chaotic day of three distinct acts, the near-normality of New Zealand's long-distant first innings seemed but a fever dream - a time of flawed and attritional cricket on both sides, with England dropping two catches in the morning session including Mitchell on 80, before Jack Leach completed a maiden home five-for with a burst of three wickets in five balls either side of lunch.

New Zealand were even left feeling aggrieved by the sort of minor controversy that Test cricket has traditionally loved to dine out on - when Tom Blundell was given out to a marginal lbw on 55 but had no recourse to a review because the DRS had gone haywire. In days gone by, such a moment could have remained the talking point deep into the close of play. Such narratives are moving on rather quickly all of a sudden.

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Seem to have found a gem in Potts

ESPN

Close New Zealand 329 (Mitchell 109, Blundell 55, Leach 5-100) and 168 for 6 (Latham 76, Williamson 48) lead England 360 (Bairstow 162, Overton 97) by 137 runs

It's a question that teams over the world will be asking themselves at this early juncture of the Bazball revolution. What's the best means to fight England's current mood? Someone at some stage will come at them head-on - maybe as soon as next Friday, when India rock up at Edgbaston for their postponed fifth Test, and then we'll have a bunfight and a half. But for the time being at Headingley, it's over to a familiar pairing, yet again, to do the needful to give New Zealand a puncher's chance.

Sure enough, by the close of another engrossing day at Headingley, it was Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell back in hardness for their team, unbeaten at the close of a rain-interrupted final hour on 4 and 5 respectively, having now taken their total partnership runs for the series to a towering 618 in six innings. But not for the first time, New Zealand's key pairing arrived to an innings in the throes of crisis, after an untimely rain break had triggered a middle-innings meltdown that has given England every reason to believe a 3-0 clean sweep is there for the taking.

From the relative security of 125 for 1 at tea, a lead of 94, New Zealand limped to 168 for 5 at stumps, as England finished the day with the ball as they had begun it with the bat - with a rowdy home crowd revelling in every microscopic detail of the play, and with Jonny Bairstow once again the orchestrator, this time in a literal sense, as Ben Stokes used Yorkshire's favourite son as the conduit for the fans' affections, as the bowlers found themselves running into a wall of noise.

It's not all about vibes, though. There was some solid tactical nous on display from Stokes in particular, not least in a series of exemplary bowling changes that hastened New Zealand's slide from security to renewed jeopardy. From the moment that Jamie Overton dislodged the well-set Tom Latham with his first ball after tea, Stokes swarmed onto the offensive with attacking fields and targeted match-ups, particularly the use of Matt Potts to lure Kane Williamson outside off for the third innings out of four, and the re-introduction of Jack Leach to target Henry Nicholls' woeful record against left-arm spin.

There was some fortune in England's approach too - notably for Joe Root, whose one-off over had only come about because of the impending rain shower that interrupted it halfway through. His first ball back after a 15-minute delay was perfectly pitched outside Devon Conway's off stump, and Ollie Pope at short leg stooped with outstanding reactions to scoop up the inside-edge in his left hand, and prise another vital opening.

It was a cathartic wicket for Root, too, who had gone into the tea break believing he had dropped a game-changing clanger. After the high-octane frolics of England's own innings, New Zealand's response had been one of commendable self-absorption, as their senior pairing of Latham and Williamson made light of the early loss of Will Young for 8 to grind out a second-wicket stand of 97, their first significant alliance of the series.

The policy of both men was to block out all the vibes. In the series to date, neither man had made a higher score than Williamson's 31 in the first innings of this match, and Williamson's struggles with a long-term elbow problem had been compounded by the Covid diagnosis that caused him to miss the Trent Bridge Test. And so both men set themselves for the long haul, in an old-school passage of play that challenged England to stay patient.

Jamie Overton celebrates with Ben Stokes after dismissing Tom Latham, England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test, Headingley, 3rd day, June 25, 2022
Jamie Overton celebrates with Ben Stokes after dismissing Tom Latham•Getty Images
For Latham in particular, the policy seemed to be paying off as he eased along to a 70-ball half-century, with a notable willingness to wait for the ball to come to him, as evidenced by the first five of his 12 fours, all punched compactly off the full length. But, having seemingly ridden out his struggles to that round-the-wicket line from the seamers, back came the arch-exponent Broad with ten minutes to go until tea. Snick went the edge, but splat went the catch at first slip, as Root banged the turf in frustration.

It was a bad miss, but thanks to Overton's pinpoint first ball after tea, it cost England just six runs. And, suddenly fuelled by adrenalin, having earlier missed out by just three runs on a debut Test century, Overton fired in a savage bouncer to the new man, Conway, who wore it on the badge and needed a lengthy time-out for both a concussion protocol and a repaired helmet. Overton didn't add another wicket in a fiery spell from round the wicket, but the signs were promising as began to settle into his primary role.

Williamson was a silent witness to all of this - content to bide his time as he used this early part of his innings as an extended net. His first nine runs came from a leisurely 43 balls, with a solitary flick for four through square leg, though he picked up his pace in the second hour of the session, not least thanks to a wayward first spell from Stokes, who had been a notable absentee from England's attack in the first innings, and looked short of a gallop as he was picked off for six fours in his first four overs.

But just when it seemed that an innings of substance was inevitable, Williamson fell victim in that post-rain-delay mini-session to the indefatigable Potts. After an excellent but under-rewarded spell of 1 for 34 in 26 first-over innings, Potts had already doubled his tally by inducing Young's drive to third slip. Now, his aggressive full length and ability to bang movement out of even the most reluctant of balls landed New Zealand's biggest fish. As at Lord's, Williamson was lured by the back-of-a-length delivery just outside his eye line, and flung his head back in dismay as he followed the movement to feather an edge to Bairstow, standing in as keeper after Ben Foakes sat out the day with a stiff back.

The thrill of England's evening chase mirrored another free-wheeling morning from their batters, who completed a remarkable comeback from the depths of 55 for 6 by adding a further 96 runs in 18 overs to finish on 360 all out. The one crushing disappointing for another rapt Headingley crowd, however, was the failure of Overton to push on from his overnight 89, and become the first England player - and only the 11th in Test history - to make a century on debut from No. 8 or lower.

All the positive mental attitude in the world could not quite prepare Overton for the scenario he faced this morning, after what must surely have been a fretful night's sleep, and with history winking at him with every delivery. Despite the best endeavours of his partner Bairstow, who kept the strike rotating to offer him every chance to find his fluency, Overton's resumption was a comparatively tentative affair, and one that was ultimately ended - three runs shy of nirvana - by New Zealand's most constant menace, Trent Boult.


After throwing his hands through one cathartic square drive for his first boundary of the day, Overton chanced his arm once too often as Boult followed up with one of his classically tight-lined outswingers. A thin edge flew low to Daryl Mitchell at first slip, and as he turned to trudge back to the dressing-room, Bairstow sprinted up behind him to put an arm around his shoulder. No matter what those three runs may have meant personally, his contribution to a desperate team situation had already been invaluable.

Bairstow himself added 32 more runs to his overnight 130, but was content to play second fiddle to both Overton and Broad, who emerged - one day after his 36th birthday - in a mood for mayhem after suffering pad-rash for the entirety of that record-breaking seventh-wicket stand of 241. He belted a quickfire 42 from 36 balls, with six fours and two sixes, all of them courtesy of his trademark front-leg-clearing style, before Tim Southee ended the fun with a fine bail-trimmer.

Bairstow followed soon afterwards, caught at long-off sprawling Boult, having earlier reached his 150 from 144 balls, the second-fastest in England's Test history. Southee duly wrapped up England's innings after Jack Leach had picked off two more boundaries, but both Bairstow and Leach were back in harness far sooner than might have been anticipated - the former standing up to the latter, as Leach was handed the new ball in a two-over experiment before lunch. It was the first time a spinner had taken the new ball in England since Graeme Swann at Lord's in 2009, and though it was not an immediate success, it was another sign of Stokes' fertile mind. He's willing to think as well as tonk in his new incarnation as England's vibesman-in-chief. And on his watch, England are a team transformed.

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Poor by England in not scoring at 7 an over in their second dig, probably win by dinner time.

ESPN
Close England 360 and 183 for 2 (Pope 81*, Root 55*) need another 113 runs to beat New Zealand 329 and 326 (Blundell 88, Latham 76, Mitchell 65, Leach 5-66)

Jack Leach justified the faith placed in him by his captain Ben Stokes with the first ten-wicket haul of his Test career, before Ollie Pope rode that same feelgood factor with the second significant score of his new role at No.3, as England emulated their exploits at Lord's and Trent Bridge with yet another emphatic assault on what might once have been considered a daunting victory target of 296.

By the close of the fourth day, England had whittled that requirement down to a further 113 with eight wickets standing, with Pope leading the line with a forceful 81, and the ubiquitous Joe Root once again offering the sort of stone-cold presence that can make the impossible seem mundane. Root brought up his own fifty with a pull for four off Michael Bracewell in the final over of the day, then followed that up with four more for good measure, as New Zealand's spinner was battered for a total of 70 runs in 11 inconsistent overs, a return that served only to highlight the excellence of Leach's earlier efforts.

If successful, England's chase would be the seventh-highest by any team in 140 years of Test cricket in this country (and curiously, the fifth-highest at Headingley), and yet, it would only be the second-highest of England's three 250-plus chases this month alone. And though the fans will once again be welcomed in for free for Monday's fifth day, only an improbable New Zealand fightback will now be able to produce the same I-was-there experience that Jonny Bairstow served up in that 299-run victory romp in Nottingham last week.

For much of the fourth evening, England's progress seemed measured by their recent standards, and yet their innings still rattled along at an insatiable rate of 4.69 per over. And, for the umpteenth time in this most peculiar campaign, it emphatically upstaged the relentless consistency of New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell. Earlier in the day, their fourth century stand of the series had carried their total partnership runs to a formidable haul of 724, and in reviving New Zealand from a sickly 168 for 5 in a wicketless morning session, it seemed that, this time, they might finally be setting their side up for a consolation victory too.

The fact that they probably now won't was thanks to Leach's best - and not coincidentally, his most confident - display in an England shirt. As in the first innings, when he gunned down New Zealand's tail with three wickets in five balls, Leach this time rounded up their last four in five overs as Blundell was left high and dry on 88 not out, but the rewards were due on both occasions for his ceaseless efforts across a total of 70.5 overs, including 32.2 in the second dig at a tick over two runs per over. "I've not seen it or felt it this good," Leach said at the close about the faith that had been invested in him. "It's special."

It was far from a solo effort from Leach, however. England needed to stay composed throughout an arduous morning session, as Mitchell and Blundell batted through to lunch with barely a flicker of alarm - save an lbw decision for Leach against Mitchell that was successfully overturned on review. And when, in the first half-hour after lunch, Blundell also got a reprieve on 52 against Matt Potts' inswinger - an identical delivery, in fact, to the one that had controversially removed him in the first innings - less bullish teams might have allowed their heads to drop.

Joe Root punches gloves with Ollie Pope on the way to a century stand, England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test, Headingley, 4th day, June 26, 2022
Joe Root punches gloves with Ollie Pope on the way to a century stand•Getty Images
Potts, however, is made - as Stokes said before his Lord's debut - of precisely the sort of stuff he wants to see from all his players. In the very same over, he landed arguably an even bigger fish. No New Zealand batter has ever scored more runs in a series than Mitchell's final tally of 538 at 107.60, but on 56, he walked too far across his stumps to another pinpoint inswinger, and once again umpire Richard Kettleborough raised the finger. This one was shown by Hawk-Eye to be crashing into leg.

When the breakthrough came, at 274 for 6, New Zealand's lead had already swollen to 243. But England sensed they had their opening. Bracewell, aka "The Beast", emerged with a clear intent to fight England's fiery attitude with some punches of his own, but after launching Leach for one big six over long-on, he was undone two balls later by some more canny captaincy from Stokes, who tempted him to take on the leg-side boundary once again with men set in from the fence at mid-on and deep midwicket. Sure enough, Bracewell picked out the latter with a scuff across the line to depart for 9.

The rest came fairly meekly, though not without Blundell at the other end raising his own intensity to build New Zealand's lead with a series of smeared boundaries - including four in his last eight balls - to rush towards his second century of the series. But Tim Southee prodded limply at Leach to be bowled for 2 before Neil Wagner was caught behind for a duck - a thin snick off Leach somehow wedging between Billings' thighs as Ben Foakes' Covid replacement stooped to conquer behind the stumps.

There was just time for Trent Boult to smack one more boundary through midwicket before he too was bowled by Leach to complete his second five-for of the match, and the first ten-for of his Test career. Three years after his starring role in the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley, Leach had reaffirmed his honorary Yorkshireman status in no uncertain terms, and as he joked after the close about being padded up on the balcony as England's "night-pinch-hitter", it was clear that he wasn't about to shy away from further heroics if needed.

Even so, a target of 296 was not one to be sniffed at, least of all given the one glaring void in England's force-field of positivity. Zak Crawley's confidence is currently running on fumes - quite literally so when, after latching onto his first emphatic drive of another listless innings, he sold his partner Alex Lees a horrendous dummy in an auto-pilot run to cover. Kane Williamson slid and released in an instant, for Boult to flick off the bails in a fluid running motion, and Lees was gone with an angry glare at his partner for 9.


Crawley's response was admirable, if ultimately doomed. Having begun his innings with a stilted determination to keep out Boult's inswinger that had done him in in the first innings, he decided instead to free his arms and hang the consequences. A blaze of four boundaries in a single Boult over ensued, but then just when he seemed he was quelling his inner turmoil, he scuffed the spin of Bracewell into the covers and traipsed off for 25 from 33.

At 51 for 2, England had at least taken some lumps out of their target, as well as battered some of the elaborate lateral movement out of a ball that New Zealand were quickly seeking to change. And, having kept his own counsel while all the focus was on Crawley, Pope realised the time was nigh to take the attack back to Bracewell. Five fours poured off his bat in Bracewell's next five overs - one of them, admittedly, perilously close to slip - and suddenly he was up and running. He brought up his fifty inelegantly with an inside-edge through fine leg, but the jitters that have been a feature of his early innings had been banished. So too any real doubt that England will romp to victory, maybe even by lunch on day five.

As for Root, he just offered presence and security in equal measure - the promise of permanence allied to the threat of acceleration, a trait that doubtless helped persuade New Zealand to burn two reviews in consecutive deliveries to hopelessly optimistic lbw shouts from Southee. Aside from that, his unbeaten 55 from 80 balls was most notable for his use of the reverse sweep - most particularly one extraordinary ramped six over third man off Wagner, as he briefly got bored of the big quick's attempts to hide the ball with booming outswingers outside off, and so reversed his stance to help it emphatically to its destination. Wagner could offer only a shrug that somehow telegraphed disbelief and acceptance in the same expression. It's becoming a default reaction for this New Zealand team.

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England scored 113 in 15 overs to complete victory

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England 360 (Bairstow 162, Overton 97, Boult 4-104) and 296 for 3 (Root 86*, Pope 82, Bairstow 71*) beat New Zealand 329 (Mitchell 109, Blundell 55, Leach 5-100) and 326 (Blundell 88, Latham 76, Mitchell 65, Leach 5-66) by seven wickets

Jonny Bairstow came barrelling out of the dressing-room with the impatience of a man who'd endured a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, as he and Joe Root rampaged to a 3-0 series win on the final afternoon at Headingley in just 15.2 overs of pedal-to-the-metal action.

For the third time in as many matches, a supposedly daunting target - 296 on this occasion, compared to 277 at Lord's and 299 at Trent Bridge - was hunted down with preposterous haste. Bairstow, following back-to-back centuries in his previous two innings, rushed along to a 29-ball fifty, England's second-fastest in Tests, and by the time he ran out of road on 71 not out from 44 balls, he'd chewed up Root's chances of emulating Daryl Mitchell's feat of centuries in each of the three Tests.

It says something for England's current mood that even a score of 86 not from 125 balls is no longer enough to dominate a stiff run-chase, not even when that includes another variation on Root's ramp stroke, this time a deflection for four through fine leg. Root, of course, will not care a jot for that, and as he and Bairstow raced to a seven-wicket victory with a 111-run stand from just 87 balls, he was able to reaffirm his own majestic vein of form with a final series tally of 396 runs at an average of 99.

Bairstow, however, almost managed to lap Root's tally despite a relatively standing start. After scores of 1, 16 and 8 in his first three innings of the series, he has gone into world-beating overdrive in his last three visits to the crease - 369 runs from 293 balls, including 46 fours and ten sixes. Root, however, was later named as England's Player of the Series - a reflection of the huge stature he brings to this team as the undisputed No.1 batter in the world.

After a murky morning of rain all across Leeds - and an early lunch - the contest resumed with manic impatience. Tim Southee scalped Ollie Pope with his fifth ball of the morning, an ominously pinpoint seamer that zipped back off the deck to pluck out his off stump and deny the batter his second hundred of the series. Pope fell having added a solitary run to his overnight 81.

But if England might ordinarily have responded to such excellence with respect, Root and Bairstow opted instead for contempt. Trent Boult has been the outstanding seam bowler on either side this series, but his first over of the morning was slashed for 17 - back-to-back cuts from Root, notwithstanding a zippy first ball that climbed from a good length, and consecutive deflections from Bairstow, off the pads and through third man, with his white-ball nous coming to the fore.

That, frankly, was the end of the day as a contest. Though Southee in particular continued to challenge the edge with his conventional skill in seaming conditions, England's determination to keep accelerating through the threat was extraordinary. Bairstow belted Boult for another four through point, and when he extended his arms through a Southee length ball to launch him back over his head for six, he'd romped along to 21 from his first 12 deliveries.

With 66 runs left to defend, Kane Williamson turned back to his spinner, Michael Bracewell, who'd been ransacked for 70 runs in 11 overs on day four, and Bairstow greeted him with a sweep for four through square leg. One over later, he drilled a straight six so fast and flat that it ended up wedged between two seats in the Football Stand.

Bairstow biffed along to his fifty with another dismissive drive through mid-on off Southee, and when New Zealand burned their final review on a catch that was shown to have looped off his forearm, he barely paused for reflection. Bairstow secured a fitting end with back-to-back boundaries off Bracewell, a chop off the back foot for four then a muscular mash high over wide long-on for the series-sealing six.

[man in the stand]

Unusual set of test matches.....in normal times I'd expect England to play for draw yesterday when the morning was lost to rain. I wonder how this all attack policy will work on larger grounds?

Now England are winning game after game why do we still need this ongoing review of the game re divisions, conferences and the number of games.. 

[alanw]

The Lancashire stalwart Joss Butler must be favourite to take over from Eoin Morgan as one day captain. If he is appointed his new responsibilities might reduce his availability for Lancashire.

[lancsdes]

Jun 29, 2022 8:49:58 GMT alanw said:

“The Lancashire stalwart Joss Butler must be favourite to take over from Eoin Morgan as one day captain. If he is appointed his new responsibilities might reduce his availability for Lancashire.”

😀

[Dave Towers]

Jun 29, 2022 8:49:58 GMT alanw said:

The Lancashire stalwart Joss Butler must be favourite to take over from Eoin Morgan as one day captain. If he is appointed his new responsibilities might reduce his availability for Lancashire.


From (maybe) two games a season to zero!

Still, I think it’s the ECB who pay his wages so at least we aren’t out of pocket.

[Admin]

Anderson and Billings in Foakes and Overton out

[Admin]

Out of jail for India against Bazball


ESPN

India 338 for 7 (Pant 146, Jadeja 83*, Anderson 3-52, Potts 2-85) vs England

Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell may have left the UK, but the narrative arc they established during New Zealand's just-concluded Test tour continues to define the 2022 English summer. From the despair of 98 for 5, India roared back through the sixth-wicket heroics of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, who put on 222 off just 239 balls.

On a rain-interrupted day in which only 73 overs were possible, India galloped to 338 for 7 at the rate of 4.63 per over. Bazball? Well, Rishabh Pant was doing it long before the term was coined, and he moves to no one else's rhythm but his own. He scored his fifth Test hundred and his second in England, a breathtaking 146 off just 111 balls.

Jadeja, meanwhile, began his innings with India in considerable strife and calmed the dressing room down with an innings of crisp driving and discipline outside off stump. At close of play, he was still batting on 83.

Seven overs remain before the second new ball is due, and while India's first-innings total is already well within the realms of respectability, it is by no means a safe one. Their hopes of getting to 375 or beyond rest with Jadeja, and how much support he can get from their brittle bottom three.

All through this summer, the Dukes ball has softened after the 30-over mark or thereabouts and become far less of a threat to batters. This was certainly a contributor to India's fightback, but another possible factor - and a far more worrying one for the home team - may have been England's lack of bowling depth, and their over-reliance on the ageless and peerless James Anderson.

With a two-hour rain break - which included the 40 minutes of an early lunch - allowing him to rest his legs when the ball was still new, Anderson bowled 15 of the first 35 overs of the day. But he only bowled four of the last 38 overs, a time when England could have done with their other bowlers stepping up.




Instead, England's third and fourth specialist bowlers conceded 156 runs in just 26 overs. While Matthew Potts' day unraveled after an encouraging start - he took the wickets of Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli - Jack Leach had an entirely forgettable time of it, as Pant - by no means for the first time - toyed mercilessly with him.

Pant took 59 runs off Leach, off just 32 balls, and 46 of these runs came through the leg side despite the left-arm spinner bowling with six fielders on that side of the wicket, including three protecting the boundary. He launched the ball thrillingly down the ground, as you might expect, but the highlight of Pant's takedown of Leach was probably the way he manipulated his quicker, flatter change-ups by sinking halfway onto his back knee and sweeping, swiping or swatting him either side of deep backward square leg. He was quite likely lbw if he missed, but at no time did he seem remotely likely to miss.

Pant got through almost his entire repertoire of shots against both spin and pace - there was a not-quite-middled repeat of his reverse-scoop over the slips off Anderson, for instance, and a straight hit off Leach that ended with batter lying flat on his back - but the most brilliant bits of his strokeplay were from the more textbook end of the spectrum, none better than a pair of scorching back-foot punches off Potts.

These two shots came during a passage of play immediately after tea when India wrested the momentum entirely away from England, with Potts conceding 37 runs in a five-over spell, only to give way to the even more expensive Leach, who eventually ended the day nursing figures of 9-0-71-0. At the other end, Anderson and then Stuart Broad could only apply so much salve.


Eventually it was Joe Root who dismissed Pant, finding the edge with a clever change of pace immediately after being hit for a straight six. Ben Stokes dismissed Shardul Thakur soon after with a sharp bouncer, giving England a welcome sight of India's tail after being under the pump for so long.

England couldn't have envisaged the day ending in that manner given how it had begun. Overhead conditions - and the afterglow of their back-to-back-to-back successful run-chases against New Zealand - prompted Stokes to bowl first, and Anderson justified that choice by dismissing both openers.

Shubman Gill got going with three sweetly timed early boundaries, but always seemed a little vulnerable to feeling for the ball outside off stump. He survived two edges that fell short of the cordon, but had no such luck on 17, when he pushed away from his body at a ball from Anderson that straightened from just short of a length.


Cheteshwar Pujara, back in the Test XI but opening rather than batting at No. 3, made a typically solid start against testing bowling, but having seen off 45 balls, he got a peach from Anderson that he could do little about: an outswinger angling into the stumps initially before curving away late with extra bounce. At second slip, Zak Crawley, who had just put down Vihari off Potts, held on to this far simpler chance that came straight to him off the shoulder of Pujara's bat.

Then, after the two-hour weather interruption, Potts got two wickets in two overs, trapping Vihari plumb with a nip-backer before having Kohli bowled off his inside edge when he was caught in two minds between playing and leaving.

India were in intense strife at 71 for 4, and it only deepened after a short, stroke-filled and ultimately unconvincing innings from Shreyas Iyer, when Anderson aimed at his ribcage and got him to glove down the leg side. The efforts of Mitchell and Blundell may have cautioned England against celebrating too much at this point, but surely even they couldn't see the same thing happening all over again?