Sports News | New Zealand''s Last Wicket Pair Resists Before England Reaches 54-2 at Lunch on Day 2
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. The last pair of Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke defied England's bowlers for an hour Sunday on the second morning of the third cricket test before New Zealand's first innings finally ended at 347.
Hamilton, Dec 15 (AP) The last pair of Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke defied England's bowlers for an hour Sunday on the second morning of the third cricket test before New Zealand's first innings finally ended at 347.
Santner was the last man out for 76, having marshaled the New Zealand tail in partnerships of 41 for the eighth wicket, 31 for the ninth and finally 44 for the last wicket.
By lunch England was 54-2 with Jacob Bethell 7 not out and Joe Root unbeaten on 15. Matt Henry dismissed both England openers, Zac Crawley and Ben Duckett, in the fifth over.
Crawley had dashed to 21 from 14 balls with five boundaries when he returned a leading edge to Henry who took the catch at grass-top height. Duckett (11) was out four balls later, trapped lbw by Henry with a ball which swung back and hit him on the back pad.
The 32-run partnership was England's best opening stand of the series after 12, 9, 9 and 1 in the first two tests. England won both matches and holds an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Earlier Saturday O'Rourke, a classic No. 11 with only 13 runs in nine tests at a strike rate of eight, gave Santner stalwart support in a partnership with frustrated England for 77 minutes at the end of the first day and the start of the second.
Santner reached his fourth half century with a six from the last ball of the first day. He carried on, taking the majority of the strike, before being bowled by Matthew Potts with the first ball after the morning drinks break.
O'Rourke faced 30 deliveries and was five not out, having taken 25 balls to get off the mark and having hit his first boundary in international cricket, a leg glance from the bowling of Gus Atkinson.
The duration of the partnership between Santner and O'Rourke was enough to cause England discomfort as it lifted New Zealand from 303-9 to 315-9 at stumps Saturday and on to 347.
Potts ran in hard and bowled 28.1 overs in warm conditions to finish with 4-90. Atkinson took 3-66 and Ben Stokes subjected himself to a high workrate, bowling 24 overs and taking 1-91. AP
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