New Zealand take control after O'Rourke, Santner trip up England

Will O'Rourke dismissed Harry Brook first ball as New Zealand took control • Getty Images

Hamilton, December 15:

New Zealand 347 (Santner 76, Potts 4-90) and 136 for 3 (Williamson 50*, Ravindra 2*) lead England 143 (Henry 4-48, Santner 3-7, O'Rourke 3-33) by 340 runs

Seddon Park may not be one of the more intimidating arenas in world cricket - even more so when there is a stuffed camel wearing a skipper's cap stood at one end. But it has been a stronghold for New Zealand's Test side and they won all the major skirmishes on day two against England, as they looked to bring an end to a run of four consecutive home defeats.

It began with a ticklish last-wicket stand between Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke, which kept England in the field through the first hour of the day while they attempted to wrap up the innings. Come the close, Kane Williamson was walking off unbeaten having notched his 12th 50-plus score in Hamilton, as the hosts made solid progress in pushing on towards an impregnable position.

In between, Santner and O'Rourke combined once again to rip the guts out of the England innings - that after Matt Henry had dispatched the head. O'Rourke produced a searing spell of unsettling bounce, sharp movement and 145kph/90mph pace, eliminating Nos. 3, 4 and 5 on the England card - including the top two batters in the world, according to the ICC's rankings - in the space of eight deliveries. Santner broke the recovery stand between Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes in his first over, before Henry returned to dock the tail as England completed a grisly collapse of 8 for 66.

The only member of New Zealand's four-man attack who did not find himself in the wickets was Tim Southee, the "Sexy Camel" whose impending retirement explains the dromedary mascot. He will likely get another chance to go out on a high note, although his side's unexpected dominance did imperil the chances of Southee reaching another landmark. With 100 Test sixes in his sights, surely someone in the New Zealand think tank will ensure he goes in to bat at some point on Monday.

As England's chances of a 3-0 series sweep dwindled during the evening session, Young and Williamson adding 89 for the second wicket after Tom Latham had been induced into chopping on by Gus Atkinson, it appeared as if the Bazball reboot had hit another bump in the road. While they had fought their way out of difficult first-innings positions in Christchurch and Wellington to take an unassailable 2-0 lead, here they fell in a heap to concede a 204-run deficit.

This time there was no blazing Harry Brook knock to bail them out. Perhaps he had used up all his luck when scoring match-turning hundreds in each of the first two Tests - but when he departed first ball in the 16th over, New Zealand surely felt the game swing decisively their way.

O'Rourke was the catalyst. The 6ft 4in quick had bowled impressively without significant rewards in the series but, on the ground where he claimed a nine-wicket haul on debut earlier this year, produced a brilliant spell after lunch that left England 82 for 5 and reeling.

He initially worked Jacob Bethell over with a back-of-a-length attack; when the ball was then pitched up, Bethell's hard-handed drive flew to backward point. Brook fell to the in-ducker, perhaps a touch unlucky as he defended down into the ground, only for the ball to bounce up and flick off the leg bail. The result was the first golden duck of his career, and the first time that he had been dismissed by a New Zealand bowler for less than 50.

In O'Rourke's following over, once again the combination of bounce and movement back in did for Joe Root, as his late cut flew straight to Young at backward point.

A sprightly recovery stand of 52 in 13 overs between Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes followed, only for Santner to remove both within the space of three deliveries. Pope had counterpunched effectively for the third Test in a row, only to prop forward limply and divert an edge to slip. In Santner's next over, Stokes fell lbw when missing a slog-sweep.

The procession continued, as Henry returned to the attack and induced a tame lob to mid-on from Atkinson. Brydon Carse squeezed a return catch back to Santner and when Matt Potts was caught throwing the bat at Henry, England had lost their last five wickets in five overs for the addition of nine runs. A total of 143 all out was England's lowest in the first innings since their first outing under Brendon McCullum in June 2022.

Henry's opening spell had seen him maintain his hold over Zak Crawley, dismissing him for the fifth time in as many innings. England made a fast start in reply to 347, reaching 32 for 0 in fours overs as Southee was once again dealt with unceremoniously - and Crawley even succeeded in scoring his first runs of the series off Henry.

But it was brief respite. From the third ball Henry bowled to him, Crawley could only manage a leading edge that was scooped up one-handed in the bowler's follow-through. Crawley hung around for the third umpire to check but replays quickly confirmed fingers under the ball, bringing his record to five runs and five dismissals from 22 balls faced off Henry in the series. In the same over, Henry sent back Duckett with a ball that seamed in to hit his back leg in front of middle stump.

That mini-session was the antithesis of what had gone before, as Santner and O'Rourke frustrated England while adding 32 runs to the overnight score in 15 largely untroubled overs. With the field spread for Santner, the pair were happy to tick along - the most excitement arguably coming via O'Rourke's inside edge to fine leg that brought him his first boundary in 19 innings as an international cricketer.

O'Rourke had been given out caught behind off Atkinson in the seventh over of the day, only for Ahsan Raza to have to overturn his decision when technology proved the ball had flicked the trouser leg. Potts eventually ended a cat-and-mouse contest with the first ball after drinks, but the tone for the day was set.