Delhi: On the third day of the third and final match of the three-match Test series being played between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge, there was an exciting battle between the ball and the bat, but by the end of the day, New Zealand had strengthened its position in the match. After taking the lead in the first innings, the visiting team batted restrainedly in the second innings and took the total lead to 204 runs at stumps.

Archer created havoc in the beginning

The start of the second innings was not good for New Zealand. In the very first over, Joffra Archer gave the first success to England by LBWing captain Tom Latham. After this, Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls tried to handle the innings, but Archer’s speed and extra bounce became difficult for the batsmen. Conway returned to the pavilion after being caught in the slips on the very next ball after being hit on the helmet.

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Rachin and Mitchell took over the innings

Despite initial setbacks, Rachin Ravindra continued batting positively. He hit attractive fours against Gus Atkinson and Josh Tange and continuously increased the team’s lead. On the other hand, Henry Nicholls was seen struggling. He also got a lease of life, but he could not take advantage of it and his innings was ended by a brilliant catch by Harry Brook off Gus Atkinson’s ball.

After this, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell batted intelligently and did not give any chance to the England bowlers.

There is an unbeaten partnership of 69 runs between the two for the fourth wicket. During this time, Ravindra also completed a brilliant half-century. Captain Ben Stokes and Shoaib Bashir tried to break the partnership, but both the batsmen held on till the end of the day’s play.

New Zealand put pressure on England in the morning

The beginning of the day was very bad for England. Joe Root was out LBW without making any addition to the night’s score. Immediately after this, Jacob Bethel also got caught in the slips on his previous night’s score of 74 runs.

After this, Nathan Smith also put England in deep trouble by dismissing Jamie Smith.

Harry Brook showed fight

Amidst the continuous fall of wickets, Harry Brook tried to control the team by batting aggressively. He hit many attractive fours and played an important partnership with captain Ben Stokes. Stokes even got a lease of life once, but he could not last long. The incoming ball from Zachary Foulkes shattered his stumps.

Brook completed a brilliant half-century and took England’s score beyond 300 runs, but in the second session, Zachary Foulkes bowled him out and gave New Zealand a big success.

Lower order saved England’s shame

After the dismissal of Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer played important roles by adding useful runs. During this period, New Zealand’s fielders also missed some easy opportunities. However, Nathan Smith ended the partnership by getting Archer caught in the slip. After this, Will O’Rourke and Zachary Foulkes took the last two wickets and reduced England’s first innings to 354 runs.

Now on the fourth day, New Zealand will try to strengthen their lead, while England will look to get back into the match by taking the remaining wickets as soon as possible.