| England 303 (Burns 81, Lawrence 81*) & 112-9 (Wagner 3-18, Henry 3-36) |
| New Zealand 388 (Young 82, Conway 80, Taylor 80, Broad 4-48) |
| England lead by 37 runs |
| Scorecard |
England face defeat in the series decider against New Zealand after another insipid batting performance on the third day of the second Test.
Joe Root’s side crumbled to 112-9 under glorious sunshine at Edgbaston, only 37 runs ahead.
England had battled their way back into the contest on an entertaining day, taking the final seven New Zealand wickets for 96 runs to dismiss them for 388.
Faced with a first-innings deficit of 85, the hosts had the opportunity to set a challenging fourth-innings chase, only for their top order to disintegrate.
In the face of superb New Zealand bowling, England found themselves 30-3 and 76-7, and eventually needed a stand of 44 between Olly Stone and Mark Wood to drag the game into a fourth day.
Still, barring something utterly remarkable on Sunday, England will go down to their first home series defeat in seven years.
Dismal England spiral towards defeat
This was another abject performance by England’s callow batting line-up, one that undid the good work of a resurgence that came earlier in the day.
The game looked to be hurrying away from England in an action-packed morning session when New Zealand runs flowed and catches were dropped, only for England’s seamers – led by the superb Stuart Broad – to fight back.
However, the evening collapse that followed evoked memories of the dismal tour of India this year and leaves questions surrounding the future of the majority of England’s top order.
With questionable techniques and low reserves of confidence, they were unable to handle the relentless New Zealand attack on a pitch holding no demons.
By the end, England were again relying on their bowlers, this time to eke out enough runs to avoid an innings defeat.
England crumble yet again
The Edgbaston crowd had not finished singing Jerusalem when the England slide began, Rory Burns loosely driving at Matt Henry’s second ball of the innings to be caught at second slip.
With Henry holding a full length and nipping the ball, Dom Sibley edged to third slip before Zak Crawley was pinned by one that came back.
The bustling Neil Wagner took over, first trapping Ollie Pope on the crease for 23, then enticing Dan Lawrence into an edge behind.
In his third Test innings, James Bracey was cheered when he registered his first run, only to be bowled around his leg sweeping at the left-arm spin of Ajaz Patel.
Captain Root dropped anchor in defiance, until even he nicked a cut at Patel to fall for 11 off 61 balls.
An example in defence came from Stone, while Wood swiped his way to 29 before he top-edged Wagner. There was still time for Broad to be bowled by Trent Boult.
More to follow.
