Ben Stokes may yet sign off his Test career with a final-day flourish after England, four down and still 231 short, took the bat to New Zealand’s quicks in a breathless 15-over burst on Sunday evening.
The plan, says Joe Root, is to give the captain “the perfect send-off”. The execution so far? Untidy, but not, they insist, reckless.
Stokes promoted himself to open – only the third time he has done that in Tests – and set the tone by charging his very first delivery. Two balls later he tried a reverse-sweep. He then thumped Zak Foulkes back over his head and slog-swept Nathan Smith into the crowd before holing out for 30 from 20. It was exhilarating, slightly bizarre, and exactly what England had discussed before stepping over the rope.
Four balls after Stokes fell, Jacob Bethell shouldered arms and was pinned lbw. Harry Brook, shuffled up to No. 4 ahead of Root, greeted his first ball with a nonchalant pick-up for six over square leg, kept swinging, and was taken at long leg for 21 off nine. Even Root, usually the calm head, unfurled a reverse-ramp; Emilio Gay answered with a reverse-sweep. At stumps the score read 142 for 4, the chase still very much alive yet one good new-ball burst from disaster.
New Zealand, understandably, were delighted. Rachin Ravindra, whose polished 94 underpinned the hosts’ second-innings 359, said: “To have four wickets at the close is something we would have taken, for sure. The boys bowled brilliantly.”
Stokes, speaking to Sky Sports a few minutes later, was unmoved by talk of recklessness. “It had been something we’d spoken about tactically because obviously we’d seen how the wicket deteriorated, and how hard the new ball was [to face],” he explained. “We just didn’t want to allow the opening bowlers to settle. I just wanted to go out there and literally cause as much chaos as possible.
“I played the two balls out in my head first off: I was running down the wicket, then reverse-sweep. I wouldn’t have been reverse-sweeping Will O’Rourke. [I wanted to] cause a bit of chaos.
“As the Test match has played out, the new ball is the hardest to score off, but also poses the biggest threat in terms of taking a wicket, so it was a tactical decision. I know we’re four down, but we’ve knocked a heavy chunk off this total already and we have two very good players out in the middle.
“We would have loved to have come in one or two down, but for tactical reasons we wanted to cause a bit of chaos and then turn up tomorrow and see where we are. We’ve knocked a good chunk off this total. It’s pretty obvious that this wicket is getting harder and harder to score on.”
Root echoed him. “Throughout this game, the hardest time to bat – apart from day one – has been when the ball is brand new. It’s been when there’s been the most ridiculous movement, and also, once that ball gets soft, it’s almost been quite tricky to hit through the field.” The point, he argued, was to get ahead of that curve: score quickly while the ball remains hard, accept the risk, and leave fewer runs for the inevitable grind on an increasingly two-paced surface.
The numbers give their approach some credence. England rattled along at 9.46 an over; 142 runs in a little over an hour has trimmed the ask to a run-a-ball 231. Yet they have only six wickets in the bank and the second new ball is due after 80 overs – assuming they last that long. It is a tightrope walk.
Pitch behaviour backs up England’s logic. Variable bounce had Stokes ducking under one that barely rose above knee height; next over another leapt at Bethell’s gloves. On such surfaces, batting time can be more hazardous than batting tempo.
Even so, the final morning will demand restraint as well as adventure. Root has batted an entire day in tougher conditions; Ollie Pope, alongside him overnight, likes a chase; Jonny Bairstow is still padded up. One partnership is probably non-negotiable.
For New Zealand the equation is simpler: six wickets for a 2-1 series win and a headline they will savour. Tim Southee has bowled little due to a stiff back, but O’Rourke, Foulkes and Smith have found both bounce and reverse swing. If anything, the ball may misbehave even more under the morning cloud.
Stokes, asked if the script could yet deliver a fairytale, only shrugged. Attacking, he says, is in England’s DNA now. “If it comes off people say it’s genius, if it doesn’t they say it’s stupid. Either way, you’ve got to live with it.”
Win or lose, it is hard to accuse this England side of dying wondering. The perfect send-off remains possible; so does a damp squib. Either way, the final day is set up rather neatly – chaos, as always, guaranteed.
