Jack Leach delivered his best performance at home on the fourth day with a fine 10 for 166 at noon. England needed 296 to win but they enjoyed batting and scored 183 for two in just 39 overs. Ollie Pope scored an unbeaten 81 and Joe Root scored an unbeaten 55. It’s almost the same atmosphere as the last match.
Root could only manage 16 runs in the first innings. He and Pope came up with a score of 51 for two, but with a fine batting, the duo added 132 runs to make the match one-sided. Jonny Bairstow still has to come out to bat.
In fact, he did not face any trouble after England’s first wicket fell, the pitch has a spin air turn but Kane Williamson dropped Ajaz Patel. A brilliant fielding effort from New Zealand, Williamson picked up the ball after his opening blunder and, alerted Trent Boult at the stumps. Williamson’s fly-half did not make any mistake and England got their first blow for 17 runs. Crowley scored 25 runs and looked good but could convert his innings into a big total.
On the fourth day, Matt Potts was the man with the golden arm for England. A ball that goes into the right-hander from the end of Kirkstall Lane and traps Mitchell for 56. It was the latest example of Test cricket’s friendly disposition, with Potts dethroning Blundell’s dismay four balls earlier, lbw and finally ending a golden series of 538 runs at an average of 107.6 for the ubiquitous Mitchell.
Blundell, unbeaten on 53, with New Zealand on 245 for six, also had a chance for England to hold on to the lower order but Leach had other plans. Blundell ended his tour unbeaten on 88 and scored 383 runs at an average of 76.6. Leach at the other end also took five wickets in the second innings of the match to keep the target under 300.