Thanks to Joe Root and Rory Burns centuries, England have ended the 3rd day of the 2nd Test match in a decent position played at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday.
Starting on the overnight score of 39 for 2, Rory Burns and Joe Root played with positive intent putting pressure on New Zealand bowlers. Burns who was dropped twice on day 2 took the advantage with good stroke play. Root who was struggling for runs also made good use of the conditions. Burns reached his fifty off 97 balls and Root also reached his fifty off 145 balls. England went into the lunch break at 142 for 2.
In the 2nd session, Burns and Root continued to play good strokes which put the New Zealand bowlers under little bit of pressure. Both batsmen were hitting boundaries and rotating the strike very well. Burns reached his Test century off 208 balls. Matt Henry, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee could not make a breakthrough. New Zealand took the new ball after 80 overs. A brilliant run out by Jeet Raval ended Rory Burns innings for 101. Burns and Root added 177 runs for the 3rd wicket. England went into the tea break at 218 for 3.
Joe Root completed his long-awaited Test century off 259 balls with a lucky boundary. Ben Stokes looked confident with stroke play. Tim Southee got the wicket of Ben Stokes with a good catch by Ross Taylor at slips. New Zealand bowlers kept a tight line and length not allowing England batsmen to score runs easily. The debutant Zak Crawley could not contribute as he was dismissed by Neil Wagner for 1. It was a disciplined bowling effort by New Zealand bowlers. Rain arrived after the first hour of 3rd session and the umpires had call off. England ended the 3rd day on 269 for 5.
England 269 for 5 in 99.4 overs ( Joe Root 114*, Rory Burns 101, Tim Southee 2/63, Matt Henry 1/56) trail New Zealand 375 in 129.1 overs ( Tom Latham 105, Darly Mitchell 73, BJ Watling 55, Stuart Broad 4/73, Chris Woakes 3/83) by 106 runs.
