New Zealand now look on to avoid a clean-sweep in the ongoing Test series against England at home. Talking about the third and the final at Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand ended up posting 315 for the loss of nine wickets by the end of day one. For New Zealand, skipper Tom Latham led from the front as he top scored with 63(135) runs. Apart from that, Mitchell Santner also scored an unbeaten fifty as New Zealand crossed 300 runs.
Coming to bat first after losing the toss, New Zealand got a great start as Tom Latham and Will Young put up an opening partnership of 105 runs. Young got out after scoring 42(92) runs with 10 boundaries, while Latham went on to score 63 runs off 135 balls hitting nine boundaries. Kane Williamson also got a good start but ended up losing his wicket after scoring 44(87) hitting nine boundaries. After that, the middle-order couldn’t get a big score as New Zealand started losing regular wickets.
Tim Southee plays his final Test for New Zealand
After the score was reduced to 231/7, Mitchell Santner put up a partnership of 41 runs witn Matt Henry. After that, Tim Southee also scored a quickfire 23(10) runs. Notably, Southee is set to retire from international cricket after the ongoing Test match against England. He announced his retirement ahead of the series.
Mitchell Santner is still at the crease for New Zealand scoring 50*(54) with seven fours and two sixes, and will continue to bat with Will O’Rourke on day two. For England, Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts took three wickets each, while Brydon Carse took two and skipper Ben Stokes put in his bag.