Gloom dents England’s hopes

Christchurch : England’s hopes of ending a long and arduous campaign with their first overseas Test victory in 13 attempts were blunted by an obdurate opening stand from New Zealand’s Tom Latham and Jeet Raval, as well as the onset of the antipodean autumn, as bad light descended shortly after tea to saw 24 overs off the day’s allocation.

Despite an attempt to rage against the dying of the light, with England turning to the spin of Jack Leach and Joe Root after being informed by the umpires that their quicks could no longer be used, the players left the field with New Zealand sitting pretty on 42 for 0 after 23 overs of hard graft. The net result was that the home side will need a further 340 runs for victory on the final day - an outlandish prospect, given the likelihood of further lost overs. 

However,New Zealand will surely believe they can bat out for the draw that will secure them their first series win over England since 1999, and their first at home since 1983-84.

England’s bowlers, however, were not repelled without a fight. James Anderson and Stuart Broad hounded the outside edge of both openers in another gruelling new-ball spell, with Raval taking a nasty blow to the torso from Broad as he was forced to wait 15 deliveries to get off the mark. 

But it was Anderson who forced England’s one clear-cut opportunity - when Latham, on 23, was dropped by James Vince, a tough but genuine chance, diving to his left at third slip in the brief final session.