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Gus Atkinson rocked New Zealand with a superb hat-trick before England’s batsmen built a big lead on a dominant second day in the second Test in Wellington.
Atkinson joined cricket’s most coveted clubs when he picked up tailenders Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Team Southee with three consecutive deliveries, only the 15th time an English bowler has achieved the feat in Test cricket.
Bowling out their hosts for just 125, England jumped to 215 for three at tea and a mammoth lead of 370. Rookie number three Jacob Bethell cracked 96 and Ben Duckett 92, but both were just short of a century
Bethell, 21, has never scored a professional hundred in any format and, having passed his previous best of 93, came just one stroke away from celebrating the milestone at the highest level.
After sharing a ruthless stand of 187, Tim Southee dismissed the pair in quick succession – Bethell making his way to the wicketkeeper and Duckett trailing down his stumps.
Earlier, Atkinson (four for 31) turned the spotlight firmly on himself as he shuddered to halt the New Zealand innings in his fifth over of the day.
The 26-year-old’s magical sequence featured three different dismissals, starting when he rooted out Smith’s middle stump over an unappreciated leave and toe edge. He doubled Henry away from a short ball that he bounced to Duckett in the gully.
Last man Southee stood between Atkinson and a place in the history books and had no answer as the ball went full and straight, smashing his front drop in front of middle stump.
Southee reviewed the lbw decision hoping for more than expected, but the English celebration was already underway. Rod Tucker raised his finger for a second time to seal the deal and Atkinson took his 50th Test hat-trick in world cricket – 47 in the men’s game and three in the women’s game.
The last player to do so was South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in 2021 and Moeen Ali is the latest to do so for England, against the Proteas at The Oval in 2017.
Brydon Carse (four for 46) started the rot when he dismissed Tom Blundell and Will O’Rourke in the space of three deliveries as New Zealand lost their last five overs for 39.
Zak Crawley hit the first two balls of England’s second innings for four, but he couldn’t feed off the feel-good factor for long. He fell to Henry for the fourth time in a row, picking midwicket to leave him with just 26 runs in the series so far.
That left Duckett and Bethell to take the fight and they wasted no time extending England’s first innings lead to 155.
There were seven fours and three drawn sixes before the lunch break as the game drifted away from New Zealand. Bethell looked particularly lively, directing the free fifty he scored in the fourth innings in Christchurch last week.
He reached another half-century off 52 balls, taking his partner for seven, punishing every opportunity to score from behind the square and unleashing the occasional furious drive.
The second-wicket pair scored hungrily as New Zealand tired, Duckett launched an uppercut and Bethell pulled back to hit Glenn Phillips for another six down the ground.
The prospect of becoming England’s youngest centurion since Denis Compton in 1939 began to look like an inevitability, but there was a warning in the 90th when he charged at Southee and ended a drag into no-man’s land with his fingers.
He moved to 96 with his 10th four, a compact move to deep third, but disappeared on the next ball as he flashed a thick edge behind. Duckett comforted him at a near miss and then held on for one of his own soon after, playing on as Southee edged the ball from around the wicket.
That’s why Joe Root and Harry Brook, the top two batsmen in the ICC world rankings, are together at the start of the evening session.