Beginning the third day in Wellington in a powerful position 148 runs ahead on four without loss, England were determined to bat the Kiwis out of the game.
The tourists closed on 277 for nine to extend their lead to 421 - but once again none of the top six was able to reach three figures.
England have recorded only one century in this series and only four in their previous two against Sri Lanka and India, a total of eight Tests.
But despite batting with the comfort of a commanding lead, only Paul Collingwood and Alastair Cook even passed 50 as once again batsmen got in but were unable to build major innings.
England's innings suffered an early setback with captain Michael Vaughan falling in the sixth over of the day when he edged seamer Kyle Mills behind to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.
But after that early loss, the tourists seemed assured at the crease throughout a 106-run stand between Essex opener Cook and fellow left-hander Andrew Strauss.
Cook, dropped on five by McCullum five balls prior to Vaughan's dismissal, reached his first half-century of the series shortly before lunch.
He dominated the partnership with Strauss and looked well set until edging behind for a determined 60.
Strauss, yet to make a big impression since being recalled at the start of the series, followed in the next over when he was given lbw to all-rounder Jacob Oram playing around his pads for 44.
No comments:
Post a Comment