Openers Tom Latham and Will Young, often taunted by an English slip cordon featuring four slips and a gully, lasted the entire first session
of the third test – and 15 balls of the second – as part of a 105-run stand.
That is the Black Caps' highest tally in 30 innings donning the pads first, stretching to Latham and Devon Conway’s 149 against the same opposition during the second dig of the Basin Reserve follow-on triumph in February 2023.
The stand is the highest in this series by a New Zealand pair, and the only one featuring three figures.
Yes, this match is a dead rubber, so the pressure has reduced, but they were welcome runs on several fronts.
First, Kane Williamson had time to perhaps boil the kettle, ponder the clue to one-down in the cryptic crossword – King Charles’ first boy child is the Black Caps highest run-scorer (10) – and check what he was missing at home on the Mt Maunganui surf forecast. The No 3 had entered before the seventh over on every other occasion in the series. This time he could afford to tuck into lunch without the burden of drying his gear in the sun at the Tim Southee End.
Second, the hosts took confidence the that pitch held few demons after the visitors sent them in. England’s bowling was looser than the past two tests, but part of that was down to Young and Latham’s positive intent. The tourists were spanked for over-pitching with drives down the ground, they were flayed for offering width with a series of cuts through point, and they were worked into the legside with ease to rotate the strike. The latter maximised the benefit of a right-hand/left-hand combination to prevent bowlers and fielders from settling.
Third, fans could open the picnic basket with surety to build a decent ploughman’s lunch without suffering the indigestion brought on by the frequent wicket-taking disruptions in Christchurch and Wellington.
Eventually, Young was caught off a good length from Gus Atkinson, fending to Harry Brook at second slip on 42. Latham lasted 13.4 overs longer before enduring the frustration of tickling Potts to Pope down the legside for 63.
Still, after opening stand returns of four, three, 18 and nine before Conway’s paternity leave departure, this was a welcome respite.
The rest of the New Zealand innings struggled for the same attributes, barring Williamson’s assured 44 and Mitch Santner’s pugnacious unbeaten 50, as the series theme of impetuous stroke-making again took hold.
However, at least they have given themselves a sniff.
