James Anderson claimed his 650th wicket as New Zealand’s second innings began with Tom Latham taking an on-drive to get the team off the mark with a four, but he made the error of shouldering arms to a ball that came in and was bowled.
On the fourth day, Trent Boult took five wickets to put an early end to England’s innings, but the hosts responded with regular wickets, leaving the Trent Bridge Test in an intriguing position.
17 runs were lost by England as they were bowled out for 539 in the first innings. In the second innings, Will Young and Devon Conway both made half-centuries, but New Zealand also lost wickets and reached stumps at 224/7, 238 runs ahead of England.
Both Conway and Young batted well, with the former getting fortunate when Anderson squared him up as the ball sailed over the slip cordon.
The ball was flowing about, which helped the pacemen, but Conway and Young were able to keep them at bay until the interval.
Conway slowed and was mindful of Jack Leach who was getting the ball to spin off the rough after lunch as Young continued to hit boundaries.
He ultimately unleashed a flurry of fours against Leach, including three in an over, and he employed the reverse sweep to great advantage. One of these shots pushed him to fifty, but an effort to play a conventional sweep pulled him down.
The next guy in, Henry Nicholls, made it through a review for a leg-slip catch despite the fact that replays revealed no bat was involved.
In the first over after tea, Matty Potts struck with a Nicholls cut that went straight to backward point for a wicket. New Zealand’s lead was cut to 131/4 when a blunder by Mitchell resulted to Young’s dismissal.
This time, Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell were tasked with bolstering New Zealand’s score. For his second boundary, Blundell sliced away a short ball from Leach after hitting Stokes for four.
However, they largely dealt in singles and twos. With no spike visible in the replays, Blundell utilized the DRS to overturn a caught-behind call against Leach.
When Blundell sent a short ball to Stokes in the deep, Broad resorted to short-ball tactics that paid off for England. Before miscued loft off Potts, Bracewell struck four fours and a dominating six from Broad but then went out for 25. Mitchell asked for a non-existent second run from Tim Southee, and the Kiwis were forced to settle for a seven-run defeat. To assist New Zealand set a difficult mark for England, Mitchell was undefeated on 32.
Ben Foakes smashed a half-century in the opening hour, but New Zealand kept up the pressure and ended England’s innings shortly before lunch.
Joe Root reverse-scooped Southee for a six as Foakes smashed a flurry of boundaries as the sixth wicket partnership reached a century stand.
Root’s innings ultimately ended when he was caught by Southee at cover off a slower ball from Boult. In his last over, Broad hit a couple of fours before cutting Bracewell’s ball for a catch at slip by Mitchell.
As Boult claimed his 10th five-wicket haul, Foakes was dismissed after being put back by Potts, who was bowled by the left-armer. Bracewell claimed his third wicket as Anderson made two fours before he was caught off the bowling of Bracewell on the fourth morning.
