Tea New Zealand 414 for 6 (Southee 35*, Watling 13*) v England
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
He may not have been the man Alastair Cook envisaged making the breakthrough when he inserted New Zealand five sessions ago, but Jonathan Trott claimed a vital wicket for England on the afternoon session of the second day of the final Test in Auckland.
Trott, called into the attack when Cook had exhausted all other options, dismissed Bendon McCullum just as it seemed the New Zealand captain was putting the game beyond England. Pushing the ball wide of off stump, Trott gained just enough swing to draw McCullum into a drive only to find the outside edge and see Matt Prior, standing up to the stumps, claim his second excellent catch of the day. It was just the fourth wicket of Trott's 41-Test career and may yet turn out to be the most important.
The wicket just about sustained England's ever diminishing hopes of winning the series. McCullum, batting aggressively and scoring with a freedom that none of his top-order colleagues could replicate, had once again made a mockery of England's attempts to bowl short at him by pulling and cutting with power. He also unsettled Monty Panesar's length by skipping down the pitch to drive and, when the bowler compensated, sitting on the back foot and cutting. Had he spent another hour at the crease and this game may well have been put beyond England.
Whether New Zealand had already struck the decisive blow in this series remains to be seen. By the time Trott struck, McCullum had added 68 runs for the fifth wicket with Dean Brownlie and steered his side away from a position from where England were threatening to claw their way back into the game.
England claimed three wickets in the morning session. Bowling with more discipline than the previous day, England conceded just 62 runs and, having been looking down the barrel of a huge total when New Zealand reached stumps on the first day on 250 for one, reduced New Zealand to a less daunting 297 for 4.
It might have been worse for New Zealand without the Decision Review System. McCullum was originally given out by the on-field umpire, Paul Reiffel, to the second delivery he faced only to review it and win a reprieve. Whether Reiffel thought McCullum had edged the ball or been trapped lbw remains unclear, but replays suggested neither decision would have been correct. It was a persuasive example of the merits of the DRS.
Brownlie followed not long after McCullum. Attempting to cut an innocuous delivery from James Anderson, he could only steer the ball to backward point where Nick Compton held on to a low chance.
New Zealand were not finished, though. Tim Southee pulled Broad for successive sixes and thrashed three fours, two drives and a cut, off Steven Finn as the bowler struggled with his length. The seventh-wicket partnership had added 41 runs in 8.2 overs at tea.
Batting was not straightforward in the first session. James Anderson, gaining just a little swing, found the edge of Kane Williamson's perfectly reasonable - if not fully committed - forward defensive stroke with a beauty that moved away just enough in the fifth over of the day, and England's ploy of plugging away outside Peter Fulton's off stump - an area of obvious weakness for him - resulted in the game drifting towards stalemate. His policy of blocking on off stump and picking up runs when the bowlers stray can work well if bowlers perform as loosely as they did on the first day. But against better quality bowling, it looks desperately limited. Resuming on his overnight score of 124, Fulton faced 69 deliveries in about 140 minutes in the morning and scored just 12 runs.
Perhaps Fulton scorelessness contributed to Ross Taylor's demise. While Taylor drove his seventh delivery, from Stuart Broad, for a flowing four through extra-cover, he looked increasingly frustrated by his side's lack of progress. He utilised the short boundary to flick Monty Panesar for 10 in two deliveries - a six followed by a four - over midwicket but, attempting to flick another one into the leg side a couple of balls later, was beaten by one that held its own and gifted a leading edge back to the bowler.
If the ball that accounted for Fulton was unimpressive - a thigh-high delivery heading down the leg side from Steven Finn - the catch was exceptional. Matt Prior, leaping to his left, clung on to a superb one-handed chance that Fulton must have thought was heading to the boundary as he glanced it fine.
Southee cameo takes New Zealand past 400
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Southee cameo takes New Zealand past 400
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Southee cameo takes New Zealand past 400
