Twitter Reactions: Ollie Pope, Joe Root's fifties put England in command, 3-0 whitewash on the cards

England ended Day 4 on a high as they need 113 runs with eight wickets in hand, going into the final day of the third and final Test match in Headingley, Leeds. The English whitewash looks inevitable, and the New Zealand bowlers need to produce something extremely special if they aim to turn things around and snatch a victory.

New Zealand began Day 3 with two of their best batters in the series, Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, resuming their innings with the task of bailing the team out of trouble yet again. The pair added 113 runs for the sixth wicket, as Mitchell finished at 56 while Blundell remained unbeaten at 88.

Notably, this was Mitchell’s fifth score of 50 or more in the series out of which three were converted to centuries. His partner Blundell also brought up his third fifty and a score of 50 runs or more for the fourth time. The visitors finished with 326 runs to set up a target of 296 with almost four sessions left in the match.

England on course to a 3-0 whitewash

England began their chase with a slight hiccup as opener Alex Lees was run-out thanks to a brilliant fielding effort from Kane Williamson. The New Zealand skipper pounced on to a well-timed shot from Zak Crawley and produced a quick throw to the non-striker’s end. Unfortunately for Lees, he was already too far away up the pitch to make the ground back in time and was run out by a fair distance. England lost their first wicket for 17.

Since then, as it has been throughout the series, England’s chase has been quick and aggressive. Crawley scored a quick 25 off 33 balls before being dismissed by spinner Michael Bracewell. Ollie Pope and Joe Root remained unbeaten on 81 and 55 respectively, adding another 132 for the third wicket. England are cruising towards the finishing line as they finished Day 4 at 183 for the loss of two wickets at a run rate of 4.69.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitter reacted to the day’s proceedings: