They suffered a collapse, their fast bowlers sent down unusually high number of overs, all while lagging behind in the Test
Vithushan Ehantharajah15-Dec-2024When a day starts and (almost) ends with Will O’Rourke batting, you know something strange has happened.New Zealand’s No.11 admits he does not have “the most talent with the bat going around”. A Test average of 3.00 suggests he might even be overselling it.But his sticking power was twice called upon on day two of this third Test. Firstly to stand by Mitchell Santner as he lifted New Zealand to a first innings of 347. Then, with 20 minutes of play remaining, to consolidate an advanced position. Despite O’Rourke falling for an eight-ball duck in only his second go as nightwatcher, his team head into day three leading by 340 for the loss of three wickets.Related
New Zealand take control after O'Rourke, Santner trip up England
In between dead-batting, O’Rourke triggered England’s abberation of 143 all out. A three-wicket spell that included Kiwi destroyer Harry Brook – for a golden duck, no less – triggered the implosion, which the tourists did little to stop.Was it in the air? A little, you know.A tedious start to the day had England adopting club cricket’s patented “chasing the pro” tactics for the final wicket; everyone on the boundary for Santner, before the field constricted for the few deliveries O’Rourke faced. This despite the second new ball being just two overs old.When they forgot to bring fielders in at the end of the second over of the day, allowing Santner to knock an easy single to retain the strike for the next over, something seemed off. New Zealand only managed 32 from that peculiar 15.1 overs stanza, but frustrations were evident.That the man who has held England’s first innings together on this trip was snared for a first-baller was the real killer. Brook’s 171 in Chrirstchurch and 123 in Wellington were the backbone for totals of 499 and 280, respectively, both of which resulted in leads. Perhaps it was no surprise, then, that they crumpled without him in Hamilton.And how. An overall collapse of 8 for 66 in exactly 20 overs was the second-worst of Stokes’ tenure, and the 10th time England have lost as many for under 100 runs in that time. If you take collapses in India at the start of the year as par for the course, it was the second-worst SENA total they have posted in the Bazball era. Top of the list on both are 7 for 49 and 141, arriving in the same game – the first of this project, against New Zealand at Lord’s in June 2022.Evoking memories of the very start of all this certainly does not equal regression, of course. Let’s not forget, England have already bagged this series, their first in New Zealand since 2008, with two convincing performances in the first two games. New Zealand, already defeated after a mixed year of Test results, had far more on the line. Not just pride, but a farewell for Tim Southee, one of their all-time greats. This matters more to them, but when the series mattered more, England ran away with it.Assistant coach Paul Collingwood dismissed the notion that this being England’s 17th Test of a gruelling 2024 has anything to do with it. Similarly, Stokes entered the match dismissing the word “ruthless,” citing it as one used after the event. To be fair to him, he is right. England were not lacking ruthlessness on Sunday. Just application.Poor shots were shared around like Secret Santa gifts. Zak Crawley’s loose return catch, falling victim to Matt Henry for the fifth time in as many knocks this series; Jacob Bethell’s neither-forward-nor-back punch; Joe Root’s insistence on the late cut even when followed by a sharp riser from O’Rourke; Stokes’ attempted slog sweep.As is the way with collapses – particularly Bazball collapses which go even quicker – England’s bowlers were the collateral. Just 35.4 overs after finishing off New Zealand’s first innings, they were back out for more labour. Barely enough time for a shower, sandwich and a good long sit down before strapping on their pads.The bowling boots followed not long after, as all four seameers were dismissed in the space of 22 deliveries. Three of them have had to go back-to-back across these three matches.”I think when you’ve only got 30-odd overs of rest it’s not quite ideal,” said Collingwood. “Especially when the weather is hot. They’re fast bowlers, you know they’ll come back out and toil away. It can be difficult when that is the situation, and thankfully it doesn’t happen very often.”Harry Brook’s golden duck made things worse for England•Getty ImagesBrydon Carse looked cooked on Sunday morning before being roasted further in the evening’s harsh 27-degree heat. The Durham quick has been the find of the winter, with 27 wickets at 19.37 (at the time of writing). But his workload has spiked with England. Across five appearances in the last two months, he has bowled 151.1 overs – more than what he managed in both of the previous domestic seasons. As far as first-class overs go, 2024 is comfortably his busiest, despite serving a three-month ban in the summer for betting offences.Gus Atkinson showed similar signs of wear. Even during what has been an incredible start to his Test career, there are signs to heed about his management going forward. His pace dropped as the home season went on, registering the importance of not overburdening their new opening bowler.And yet, he was back with the new ball in his hand a few hours after shuffling in for 26 overs across days one and two – his biggest ask in an innings of his career to date. He has only once bowled more (27 against Hampshire in April) for his county, Surrey.Even Matthew Potts, in his first appearance of the series, set a new career-best in terms of output, even if the figures fell short on that measure with 4 for 90. An average speed of of 80mph in the first innings dipped to 77.6mph 24 hours later.Of course, Stokes was never going to shirk the graft and ended up taking more of the share. New left knee, reinforced left hamstring, 23 overs across three spells on Saturday – the most in a day’s play since Trent Bridge against the same opponents in 2022 – was an undoubted positive. England’s captain is re-emerging as the balancing allrounder of his own XI.After a false slog sweep ended what up to 27 had been a valiant stabilising effort, he gave himself the short straw of the toil overs that come in these kind of third innings. With New Zealand’s lead at 304, he brought himself on from the City End.An array of bouncers, mixed in with full deliveries and a fair bit of chat – exclusively for Rachin Ravindra after he had burned O’Rourke as the nightwatcher with 20 minutes of play to go – brought a couple of dismissals. The lack of celebrations reflected there was more repenting to be done.It was reminscient of Stokes’ previous self-flagellating spells, desperate to hinder runaway opponents. Headingley 2019 comes to mind, prior to his miracle with the bat.This, however, feels less clinging onto the bumper of a car and more like hugging the landing skids of a helicopter that is rising steadily into the stratosphere. The only question is when in the next two days England let go and come crashing back to earth.