Saturday 23 November 2019 10:07, UK
Dominic Sibley's supreme catch a rare bright spot on England's day of toil. Here are the key moments from the day three action at Bay Oval...
BJ Watling's eighth Test century earned New Zealand a 41-run lead as England took just two wickets on day three of the first Test, writes Oli Burley.
Watling's dogged and measured 298-ball knock, which contains 15 fours far, blunted a visiting attack that lacked penetration on a placid pitch.
Goodness knows England fans had precious little to cheer in the first two sessions (one wicket, in fact), so hopes weren't high of a barrage of breakthroughs at the start of the evening session. Enter Ben Stokes for a rare bowl and his impact was instantaneous - removing Colin de Grandhomme with the very first ball after tea.
Mind you, it took a pretty special catch to achieve it - debutant Dominic Sibley flinging himself to his right in the gully to pluck a spectacular one-handed catch out of nowhere. Sibley celebrated with arms outstretched, aeroplane-style, but it wasn't to be lift off for England.
Did Joe Root get the best out of Jofra Archer? Handing England's quickest bowler the ball at the start of the day seemed a no-brainer after Archer struck Henry Nicholls flush on the helmet late on day two but instead the paceman was left kicking his heels while Sam Curran and Stuart Broad opened up before being belatedly introduced.
So surely Archer would get first crack with the new conker just before lunch? The opportunity went begging as Jack Leach and Root himself persisted before the interval. Perhaps the placid pitch and the softening Kookaburra ball played a part - Archer rarely troubling the 90mph barrier unless riled.
"What shocked me," said Ian Ward, "was that he seemed a little isolated. I just wonder if a Jimmy Anderson would have been there whether he would have gone up to him and had a chat with him."
Mike Atherton: "I thought it was a very odd day from England, I have to say. To not go to Archer at the start, I thought was odd. To also not bowl him with the second new ball after lunch, when he'd had a 40-minute break, was odd. Not that Archer can do all the bowling, but you want him to bowl at the key times."
James Franklin: "Watling is a battler and a scrapper; he always seems to do it when New Zealand are up against it. He's in a rich vein of form in Test cricket so long may that continue from new Zealand's point of view. It's a massive day for New Zealand because they were so far behind at the start of it."
Rob Key: "New Zealand showed England how to bat. They were ruthless in a way that England weren't. England's position in this game is all their own doing. I hope it's a day that Archer sees as a bit of a wake-up call. I hope he thinks 'how am I going to improve?'. I hope it's a day he learns from."
Watch day four of the first Test between New Zealand and England live on Sky Sports Cricket from 9.30pm on Saturday.
