England struggle to 54 for two at lunch in Hamilton

Zak Crawley’s troublesome tour of New Zealand continued as Matt Henry made short work of England’s opening pair on the second morning of the third Test in Hamilton.

England finally ended a frustrating last-wicket stand to leave the Black Caps 347 all out but suffered early setbacks to post 54 for two at the lunch break.

Crawley appeared to relieve some of the pressure that has built up during a lean run of scores when he drove Tim Southee for four boundaries in his first over but his weakness against Henry was once again exposed.

Having dismissed Crawley on all four occasions in Christchurch and Wellington, the seamer made it five from five as he pounced to take a tough return catch in his follow-through.

Crawley waited for the replays, crossing his fingers that the ball had brushed the floor, but was sent on his way for a lively, but unsatisfying, 21. That took his series tally to 47, at a slender average of 9.40.

Not content with continuing his hot streak against Crawley, Henry removed Ben Duckett just four balls later. It was a delivery that did everything right, pushed up to the stumps, veering off the seam and thumping the left-hander’s front pad clean in front.

Henry clenched his fists in celebration, barely even registering an appeal as the umpire raised his finger.

That left Jacob Bethell and Joe Root, England’s least and most experienced players, with work to do and they made steady progress to reach lunch. Root enjoyed jousting with Henry, stroking back to back boundaries one moment then playing and missing at a couple as the bowler returned fire.

England had earlier taken over an hour to part New Zealand’s last pair, Mitchell Santner squeezing an extra 32 runs out of his time with number 11 Will O’Rourke.

Ben Stokes employed some curiously defensive tactics, spreading a ring of boundary fielders when Santner took strike in an attempt to shut down his scoring options and focus on O’Rourke. But England were flat, sending down 15 overs of mostly insipid fare before Matthew Potts hit the mark.

He clean bowled Santner for a well-made 76 just after drinks, to wrap up figures of four for 90 on his return to the side. Crawley’s initial attack on Southee, for whom this Test represents an extended retirement part, included four crisp drives to the ropes but he could not survive his latest trial at Henry’s hands.