England’s bid to win the second cricket Test against New Zealand and level up the series was hindered by bad light on Monday when play was abandoned early with the hosts 42/0 chasing an unlikely 382 for victory. England had still looked in a strong position to get the win they required to stymie New Zealand’s hopes of a first series triumph against them since 1999 when bad light also brought an early end to day three on Sunday. Having made 307 in their first innings before dismissing New Zealand for 278, they resumed on 202/3 and pushed cautiously towards a position where they might declare later in the day. England’s next four wickets went for only 70 runs, more than half of them coming from the bat of Jonny Bairstow with Root calling his players in once the wicketkeeper had departed for 36. The all-rounder’s gentle medium pace accounted for Malan, Ben Stokes (12), Stuart Broad (12) and Mark Wood (9) and he finished with figures of 4-94.

Source: Hindustan Times April 02, 2018 05:37 UTC