1st Test
Day-3 Highlights:
Brook and Stokes as well as Carse has put the England team in a commanding position
At The Stumps of Day-3:
New Zealand scored 348 (1st Innings) & 155/6 (2nd Innings), where as England scored 499 (1st Innings).
So, finally New Zealand lead by 4 runs.
Led by a brilliant 171 from Harry Brook, England posted 499 in their first innings, recovering from a precarious 71 for 4 to seize control of the first Test in Christchurch.
Brook received solid support from Ben Stokes (80) and Ollie Pope (77), with Gus Atkinson (48 off 36) and Brydon Carse (33 off 24) adding cameos to give England a 151-run lead.
With the ball, Chris Woakes and Carse kept the pressure on, taking three wickets each to leave New Zealand reeling at 155 for 6 at Stumps on Day 3.
Kane Williamson (61) became the first New Zealand player to reach 9,000 Test runs but was the only batter to convert his start, as the rest of the batting order collapsed.
New Zealand currently leads by just four runs.
Brook and Stokes resumed their partnership from the previous day, with Stokes bringing up the century stand with a boundary early on.
Despite several drops, including Brook being let off on 147, the English pair pushed the score forward.
Brook reached 150 with a stunning boundary off Tim Southee and added 23 runs in two overs against him.
Stokes also reached 50 during this period.
Brook was eventually dismissed for 171, caught behind trying to run one down to third-man, ending a mammoth 159-run stand with Stokes.
Chris Woakes followed soon after, but Stokes and Atkinson kept England in control with another vital 63-run partnership.
Atkinson’s aggressive strokes, including two sixes and two fours, helped England cross 400.
Stokes fell for 80, but Carse came out firing, hitting a quickfire 33 off 24 balls.
Despite a drop by Glenn Phillips, Carse punished the bowlers with three sixes and two streaky boundaries.
Shoaib Bashir’s dismissal handed England a 151-run lead.
In New Zealand’s second innings, they lost Tom Latham cheaply for 2 and Devon Conway for a single-digit score, leaving them in trouble.
Williamson and Rachin Ravindra steadied the ship until Ravindra was dismissed after Tea.
Williamson, in superb form, reached his 37th Test half-century but was trapped LBW by Woakes for 61.
The pressure mounted further when Tom Blundell, in poor form, was dismissed for a duck, and Phillips was later dismissed LBW by Carse.
Mitchell and Phillips had briefly resisted but could not stop the wickets from falling.
With New Zealand trailing by 413 runs with just five wickets remaining, they face a daunting challenge heading into Day 4.
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