Twitter Reactions: New Zealand on the cusp of historic win after England's Edgbaston hara-kiri

Wood and Stone added 44 from 70 amidst a collapse to make sure that New Zealand have come out to bat.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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New Zealand. (Photo Source: Twitter)

New Zealand cemented the grip on the Edgbaston Test against England, with the result of the Test and the series scoreline nothing but a forgone conclusion. England have themselves to blame for being in a perilous position after what was a shambolic and insipid day for them with the bat. They stand 37 ahead with only a wicket in hand, with no bets on their win anymore.

New Zealand’s intentions were made clear early on in the day by Ross Taylor, who picked five fours in as many overs upfront, including a couple of consecutive fours off James Anderson to take New Zealand past 250. England, who were guilty of letting go a couple of chances the previous day, had more entries in the list of drops when Sam Billings shelled out Taylor’s pull against Broad.

It was not until Joe Root employed Olly Stone that England had anything going their way as he Stone took the credit of breaking the 63-run fourth-wicket alliance, getting Taylor caught behind by a diving James Bracey. The exuberance did not last long, however, with Bracey grassing Tom Blundell’s outside edge in the same over, when he was yet to get off the mark.

Having reaped success at Lord’s in the matchup already, Mark Wood cranked up the pace and used the short ball ploy successfully against Nicholls, getting him caught behind this time, but not before a watchful Blundell-Nicholls pair took their team past England’s 303.

Taylor, tail hand New Zealand crucial lead

Riding on his luck, Blundell made merry until Lunch, however, Stone returned soon after the break to get rid of his partner Daryl Mitchell, who deposited a straightforward catch to Mitchell Santner at midwicket. When James Anderson had Neil Wagner cleaned up for a three-ball duck, England’s hopes to wrap the visitors quickly charged up.

However, only for the tail to wag and add runs that would prove rather crucial within a session’s time. Matt Henry had some fun in the middle, hitting three fours in a transient 14-ball stay of 12 runs before Wood pinned him lbw, while Root, who dropped Will Young yesterday in the same region, redeemed himself with a sharp, quick catch in the slips off Broad to sent back Blundell for 34.

A typically breezy last-wicket stand of 27 from 21 between Trent Boult and Ajaz Patel, before Broad got the latter dismissed lbw on review, meant that New Zealand finished 85 ahead despite their day-three batting tally reading 96/7.

Henry steams in

With seven sessions left ahead in the Test, England needed some steady and calculative batting to turn the table around in a game they seemed lost for the most part. They were far from that, thanks to some relentless bowling from Henry and Wagner when Boult delivered well wicketless.

Henry set the tone as early as the second ball during England’s response, inducing a thickish edge off Rory Burns for slips to pouch. Identical fate befell upon Dom Sibley four overs later, when he nicked Henry in the same region to leave England 18/2 at Tea.

It did not take too long for Henry to make Zak Crawley add one more failed outing to his career, as he trapped him lbw cheaply soon after the break, with Crawley burning a review in the process.

Wood, Stone delay the inevitable after England flounder big time

While Ollie Pope showed intent, putting away the overpitched deliveries to the boundary, his 20-ball 23 ended courtesy of an umpires call on lbw shout off Wagner, who soon got England’s first-inning saviour Dan Lawrence caught behind for a duck.

With the pacers making the ball talk, Ajaz Patel added some spin spice as he got James Bracey cleaned up and followed that by the prized scalp of opponent skipper Root, who nicked him to Blundell behind.

Watching their team’s freefall into the abyss, Wood and Stone added 44 from 70, making sure that New Zealand had to come out to bat. Hitting some dauntless strokes in his 29 from 38, Wood top-edged Wagner to the wicketkeeper to end his courageously entertaining knock, while Boult opened his account by pegging down Broad’s stump at the stroke of stumps.

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