'Under 300 would be quite chaseable' - Ben Foakes confident about England's chances in Nottingham Test

The second Test between England and New Zealand will head into the final day with the game finely poised as all three outcomes are possible. New Zealand will be hoping for either a win or at least a draw to keep themselves alive in the series, but England will be bent on sealing the series at Trent Bridge. Their wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes has said that even the score of 300 will be chaseable on the final day.

New Zealand managed a lead of 14 runs after bundling out a spirited England side for 539 runs in the first session of the fourth day. The Black Caps lost their stand-in captain Tom Latham to an ill-judged leave that saw his off stump disturbed by veteran pacer James Anderson. Devon Conway and Will Young notched up their respective fifties in a century stand that kept the hosts at bay, but a string of poor shots and miscommunication between batters saw New Zealand 224/7 after the end of play on the fourth day.

Although the Kiwis have got a lead of 238 runs and will look to add to that tally with Daryl Mitchell still at the crease, England’s Ben Foakes believes that anything around the 300 mark will be chaseable by their batters. The pitch still looks quite flat, and the batters are usually untroubled at the crease, going into the fifth and final day of this entertaining Test. Foakes believes that with the attacking batters they have in their hut, especially Ben Stokes, scoring fast runs won’t be a problem.

“I think as little as possible. Realistically how fast it’s been scoring, under 300, you’d say would be quite doable if you bat really well. Some of the guys we’ve got in the dressing room, guys like Stokesy, it could be anything really. You have no idea really if he gets in,” Foakes conceded about a potential target to Cricbuzz.

‘It’ll be an exciting day to really test my skills’ – Michael Bracewell on the prospect of bowling on the fifth day

The New Zealand team suffered another blow when Kyle Jamieson left the field of play with discomfort in his back. The lanky fast bowler is unlikely to bowl on the final day, and without a specialized spinner in the attack, debutant Michael Bracewell will do the bulk of the bowling as the fourth bowler.

“The wicket is deteriorating nicely for us. It seems to be getting a little bit more turn and bounce there. Leachy [Jack Leach] showed that today so, yeah, I’m excited to get out there and bowl on it. The England team might come up with a few different plans to try and play me in this fourth innings. It’ll be an exciting day to really test my skills against some of the best players in the world,” Bracewell said.