The fourth day of this exciting Test match being played in Christchurch was full of drama. By the end of the fourth day’s play, England had scored 103 runs in their second innings for the loss of 4 wickets in 15 overs. Now on the fifth and final day of the match, England needs 270 runs to register a historic victory, while New Zealand will have to take 6 wickets to win this match. Currently, veteran Joe Root is unbeaten on 9 runs and Emilio Gay is unbeaten on 6 runs.
This match marks not just a Test match, but also the beginning of the end of a golden chapter in English cricket. England’s charismatic captain, Ben Stokes, announced his retirement from Test cricket after this match. To make his final Test memorable, Stokes made a decision in this innings that surprised and thrilled fans. In his farewell innings, he entered the field not as an all-rounder or middle-order batsman, but as an opener. He fully embraced the ‘Bazball’ style in his final innings, hitting the New Zealand bowlers hard.
New Zealand needs 6 wickets to win
Ben Stokes, opening the innings, faced just 20 balls and smashed 30 runs at a blistering strike rate of 150. His courageous innings included two magnificent fours and two towering sixes. However, his fiery innings was ended by Zachary Faulks, who took a brilliant catch from Daryl Mitchell. Although Stokes didn’t play a big innings, his bold decision to open the innings and his fearless batting won the hearts of every spectator present at the ground.
Ben Duckett, who opened the innings with Stokes, also showed good form. Duckett played a quickfire innings of 36 runs off 42 balls, hitting six fours. He was dismissed by Ben Sears, caught by Daryl Mitchell. The openers provided a strong start to the team’s 103-run chase, but then young New Zealand bowler Zakary Faulks rattled England’s middle order with his lethal bowling.
Talking about New Zealand’s bowling, Zakary Faulks was the most successful bowler. He took 3 wickets for 42 runs in his 5.5 overs and pushed the England batsmen on the back foot. Apart from him, Ben Sears bowled only 1 over and took 1 wicket for 3 runs. Although Nathan Smith tried to bowl economically, he gave away 48 runs in his 7 overs and did not get any wicket. Mitchell Santner gave away 7 runs in 1 over, while William O’Rourke could bowl only 1 ball, in which he gave away 2 runs.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 438 & 288/9 decl. (Daryl Mitchell 100*, Rachin Ravindra 94; Jofra Archer 4-53) lead England 354 & 103/4 (Ben Duckett 36, Ben Stokes 30; Zakary Foulkes 3-42) by 269 runs.
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