England vs New Zealand 2nd Test Day 4: NZ in need of another Daryl Mitchell magic

Both the teams have played their best and most absorbing cricket in four days, with the concluding session of Day 4 being in favour of England, who took five wickets before stumps. With a lead of 238 runs and three wickets still in hand, New Zealand holds a lot of fate in their hands. Whether they will go to add a few more runs in their kitty or will declare early, leaning on bowlers to do the miracle. 

Though the day commenced with a beautiful reverse scoop shot by Joe Root on the second ball of the day going for a six, Trent Boult trapped the batter to dismiss him for 176 off 211. After taking Root, in no time, New Zealand ended the innings of England as Trent Boult took a five-wicket haul and Michael Bracewell took three wickets. This left the Kiwis with the lead of 14 runs after the first innings.

And just when it looked that New Zealand had grabbed a stronghold in the match, saving a lead of a few runs in the first inning, James Anderson took his 650th Test wicket in the form of skipper Tom Latham (4). Devon Conway and Will Young looked in good touch with the bat as they scored 100 in the partnership, which got broken by Jack Leach’s cunning ball. Matthew Potts took two quick wickets of Henry Nicholls (3) and Michael Bracewell (25), who came with attacking intent. Besides this, Kiwis lost their two wickets cheaply in a run-out, opening the door for England’s competitive win on the final day. Losing seven wickets on a score of 224, taking the lead to 238 was nothing but a reflection of a rushed mind allied to poor execution on such a sound batting track where both the teams could fetch 500-plus scores in the first inning. 

England must be in confident shoes to chase down the target on such a batting-friendly surface, whereas New Zealand will have to look for a solid strategy to lead it to draw or win for a matter of the case.