43rd on: New Zealand 174-4 (Blundell 4, Mitchell 3) Blundell escapes the mark with a beautiful square play, all angled with a full ball from Anderson. Leave the last one with a confident woodcutter climb.
And a pat on the back for all those returning home from the GCSE and A-level exams: put your feet up and grill. Almost there!
43rd on: New Zealand 169-4 (Blundell 0, Mitchell 3) Dear, Stokes enters, Mitchell pushes and the ball goes straight to Joe Root slipping, falls into his hands near his ankles, but some way falls. . Stokes ’face goes from hope to delight to oooh-I-can’t-show-how-I-feel.
42nd: New Zealand 169-4 (Blundell 0, Mitchell 3) Conway dropped his bat unintentionally.
WICKET! Conway c Foakes b Anderson 46 (New Zealand 169-4)
Foakes smiles even as he waits for the ball to fall into his gloves, to his right, an inside edge of a changer away from home. The wicket England wanted!
James Anderson celebrates after taking Devon Conway Harbor Photo: Stu Forster / Getty Images
Updated at 15.05 BST
41st: New Zealand 169-3 (Conway 46, Mitchell 3) Does Stokes continue, even though he’s a grimace as he returns to his mark? He nailed it, and Mitchells grabbed a pair up to a thin leg, and four goodbye legs beat an extended Leach on the rope.
Adam’s email arrives “Any information on any unsightly stains on Ben’s cap? I guess he won’t wash it because he’s unlucky. Smith had a particularly shabby cap when he was looking at the ashes.
They’re usually a superstitious group, but I don’t have the details on Ben’s muddy spots.
40th Over: New Zealand 163-3 (Conway 46, Mitchell 1) Thanks Tim! Jimmy Anderson is approaching, as he has for 20 years, a patch of dirty mud on his right knee and flank. Mitchell is alert, stealing one of the last balls.
39th: New Zealand 161-3 (Conway 42) So Stokes does it again. The All-Action Man of England has two of the three ports to fall.
“The fastest bowling captain,” says Peter Salmon. “Pat Cummins?” D’oh!
“I would have thought,” says Chris Bourne, “Bob Willis was ranked as the fastest bowler in England while he was captain. He was certainly faster than Paul Allott.” Ugh.
“I’m not so sure,” Chris continues, “how good it would be with the current setup. to the desired standard?
I’m done. Thanks for your company. It’s been a lot of fun, but now it’s time to hand it over to Tanya Aldred, the author who will soon be a bestseller of Ultimate Cricket Superstars.
Wicket! Nicholls v Foakes b Stokes 30 (NZ 161-3)
Beauty! Stokes sends him late enough so Nicholls has nothing to declare but a nickname.
Ben Stokes celebrates the port of Henry Nicholls. Photo: Matt West / REX / Shutterstock
Updated at 14.58 BST
38th: New Zealand 158-2 (Conway 42, Nicholls 30) Anderson believes he has Conway to do exactly what Latham did and offer a catch to Potts in the half. But Conway stands still, holding that the ball has hit the ground, and he is right. So sometimes kiwis make a little fuss. And Anderson, after 19 years trying to find the lead, threatens to specialize in taking long-jump ports.
37th: New Zealand 157-2 (Conway 41, Nicholls 30) Possibly irritated by those easy casualties a few minutes ago, Stokes walks away from Broad, though he may have only had three spells today. Stokes turns and escapes with a prameter while Conway quietly pulls his belly out for a sun. These kiwis don’t like to make a fuss.
Joe Root shows the ball to Stuart Broad. Photography: Mike Egerton / PA
Updated at 14.58 BST
36th: New Zealand 155-2 (Conway 40, Nicholls 29) Potts almost catches Nicholls, twice! First it has stuck and there is a slot that flies in the space between the slides and the ravine. He then defends a gorilla into the ravine of his legs and the ball hangs in the air, but he doesn’t quite give Stokes time to get it. Tempting things.
35th Plus: New Zealand 147-2 (Conway 39, Nicholls 22) Clever old fox that is, Broad picks up another maiden, but only giving Nicholls a few easy leaves.
34th Final: New Zealand 146-2 (Conway 39, Nicholls 22) Conway showed us this time last year how good he is, and now he confirms it, shrugging his shoulders to greet Potts with a pull imperious. . He has 39 of just 42 balls.
Meanwhile, Darren Gough returns to the comments. When he’s not talking about himself, he’s pretty sharp. “I don’t think Potts is fast enough to make things short,” he says. “Stokes is the fastest bowling player in England.”
It is difficult to think of another captain whose test this has been true. Shaun Pollock was not the fastest for South Africa, nor was Imran Khan for Pakistan when he was captain. Freddie Flintoff, maybe?
33rd Final: New Zealand 140-2 (Conway 34, Nicholls 21) Broad, so bland this morning, now shows his teeth and finds some movement out of the seam. He lures Conway into a waffle that could easily carry a nick. Then there’s an edge, as Conway is square, but the ball falls over the slips.
She is a much needed maiden. Almost every English bowler goes for four more today, all but one, in fact. Anderson has one for 19 nine overs; the rest have one for 112 out of 25.
Updated at 14.17 BST
32nd over: New Zealand 140-2 (Conway 34, Nicholls 21) Potts, keeping full, Conway takes care of four coverage. This is (a) a big shot and (b) the fiftieth association, with only ten overs. It was a tremendous counterattack, another turn of the tide. Then Potts falls short and Conway pulls out four, who doesn’t mind at all that there are men waiting for a higher advantage.
31st Final: New Zealand 131-2 (Conway 25, Nicholls 21) After being unable to change the ball, Broad tries to wake up the crowd, as he did at Lord’s with some success. It’s a bit flat here, as many of the bettors are still eating. Broad, who has now given up on all things, allows Nicholls to have two on his side of his leg before beating him with a very tasty lift.
30th final: New Zealand 129-2 (Conway 25, Nicholls 19) A calmer Potts, five points and a single.
First drop!
29th Plus: New Zealand 128-2 (Conway 25, Nicholls 18) What do you do if you’re Stuart Broad and just go ten over? You ask to have your ball changed. As he predicted on the 13th, not me: bow, Ruth Purdue. For some reason, the umps won’t play, so Broad approaches and beats Nicholls out. Then the next ball finds the edge, and England drops a catch! For the first time in the Stokes-McCullum era. The nick goes to Root’s left on the first slip, but Crawley tries to grab it on his right in the second and can’t hold it.
Zak Crawley falls to the ground after dropping Henry Nicholls. Photo: Mike Egerton / PAN There are no resentments for Stuart Broad’s Crawley. Photo: Andrew Boyers / Action Images / Reuters
Updated at 14.59 BST
28th: New Zealand 126-2 (Conway 24, Nicholls 17) Potts takes over from Anderson and the races continue to flow. Conway blocks for three, Nicholls for three. The first three are saved by Ollie Pope’s Leach-style dive, which makes Nasser and Atherton worry about their shoulder like a pair of parents.
“On the evidence (certainly few) so far, Stokes seems to be pretty cunning with his benchmark judgment (his and Potts’ screams), ”says Jon Salisbury. “I wonder what the statistics of the most successful captains in using DRS are. Without any proof, I seem to remember that Strauss was pretty good.” Okay, about both: Stokes runs the risk of not using his reviews, like his own bowling.
27th Final: New Zealand 118-2 (Conway 20, Nicholls 14) Broad begins its third leg of the day with five long-distance balls, so it has either had a Brendon McCullum ear during lunch or studied its stats and he has seen for himself. which was previously too low. Devon Conway leads the first ball for two, the fourth for four and the fifth for four more. God forbid!
Updated at 13.51 BST
It will be Stuart Broad. He has already done two interviews on Sky today – one yesterday, the other a repeat of his famous eight for – but he has not made any mention of the ball.
A hearty email at lunchtime from Ben Bernards. “Aren’t you kidding?” he begins. “Your question:” When test cricket is so lively, you wonder why the hell the new ICC boss wants to see less. “My answer: $$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
“The ICC is more and more up to FIFA or the IOC. The duty of care towards the game is a second (ninth) far behind the benefits, don’t be fooled otherwise! PS: Go with those Black Caps! “
Lunch! And it is perfectly prepared
26th final: New Zealand 108-2 (Conway 10, Nicholls 14) There is time for one more Anderson, who also has a slip of the legs, and soon also a small extra. At this point, generations of kiwi beaters would be playing for lunch, but Nicholls wants to help out with four others, so he happily hits the last ball past that man with an extra. And this is lunch, with England winning the second hour just as NZ won the first. Stokes has been expensive, but that will not matter, as he made the big breakthrough and Anderson followed the next ball.
It has been another very absorbing session. When test cricket is so lively, you wonder why the hell the new ICC boss wants to see less of it. Return in half an hour.
Updated at 13.51 BST
25th Final: New Zealand 104-2 (Conway 10, Nicholls 10) A thick cut from Nicholls brings the 100 up. Stokes, apparently acting on a warning from Anderson, causes Conway to get stuck in his legs, which he ignores and blocks for a …