England hit back after Williamson scored a century

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley got the second Test’s run chase off to a fast start, but Crawley was removed late on Day 4 and England now needed 210 runs to win. The goal of 265 was set by Kane Williamson’s 26th Test century, which was followed by half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell until Jack Leach’s wicketkeeper dismissed New Zealand for 483 in their second essay, turning the tide of the match.

The day wasn’t as exciting as it seemed to be. Only 20 runs had been added to the overnight total when Henry Nicholls was dismissed, leaving New Zealand 24 runs shy of erasing England’s first innings deficit. Despite the overnightNicholls and Williamson, the hitters, did well to neutralise the early threat posed by Ollie Robinson and James Anderson. Nicholls, though, fell while poking at a delivery that was thrown away from the stumps and was caught by Brooks.

Mitchell, however, prevented England from taking a strong position. He pursued the bowlers while batting a run-a-ball 54. He appeared busy from the beginning of his innings, constantly rotating the strike. He even went after Anderson, crushing him for boundaries off the front foot and back by taking advantage of the pacer’s infrequent length faults.

Williamson kept playing defence, but Mitchell’s assault made sure that once New Zealand gained the lead, the runs came quickly. He completed his fifty with a six down.the area where Jack Leach stood. He was removed shortly after reaching his half-century by top-edging a Stuart Broad pull that soared in the air and was caught by Joe Root.

Williamson had earlier surpassed Ross Taylor to become the highest-scoring New Zealander in Tests when he blasted a delivery from Anderson through midwicket for a boundary on the fourth ball of the day. By utilising an old ball and a flattened pitch, Williamson and Blundell batted out the entire post-lunch session without any issues.

The pair mostly exhibited caution, but they were quick to seize on the English bowlers’ few line slips and to spot openings on the field where they might score singles and doubles.plus a few threes as well.

Anderson even modified his strategy and tried coming around the wicket when little else proved productive, but with little success. Blundell’s decision to draw a back-of-the-length delivery to Anderson at leg gully gave Ollie Robinson a chance, but he was dismissed with the score at 30. He took advantage of the chance and continued to score 60 more runs before being the final batter out.

Further boundary-scoring opportunities presented themselves to New Zealand as the post-lunch session went on and the bowlers grew weary, and Williamson was quick to seize them without having to take more risks. He frequently barely glanced the ball down as he played his shots along the ground.opening the face of the bat or playing on the leg side to play behind the wicket. By playing a wide ball outside off behind the square for a boundary, he completed his century.

Williamson, who finished his innings on 132, edged a harmless delivery down the leg side by Harry Brooks to the keeper, breaking the 158-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The gates were opened for a collapse by that dismissal. After seven overs, Michael Bracewell attempted what appeared to be an easy single but was instead ran out at the striker’s end.

After taking the final three wickets, Leach finished out the opposition. Once more, Southee’s attempt to knock Leach to the ground failed as he top-edged.the strike and capture. A normal left-arm spinner’s delivery, albeit a little faster, getting an outside edge to the slip fielder, defeated Matt Henry. Blundell took a wild swing but was only able to get an edge to the slip fielder because he had gone into the 90s and was out of partners.

England came hard in response, much as was expected. After five passive overs in which Southee and Henry demonstrated their potency with the moving new ball, Crawley went on the attack and smashed three boundaries off Southee. The first of these caused length errors in the following two overs. After Michael Bracewell half-tracked, Duckett went on the back foot and pulled a six. He didn’t hold back for too long either.

In the end, Southee had Crawley.After a delivery that pitched and nipped in, cleaned up on 24. By successfully completing the final three overs of the day, Duckett and Nightwatch Robinson helped England reach 48 for 1 at the time of stumps.

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