New Zealand remove Root, Bethell and Brook to close on huge win / Photo: MICHAEL BRADLEY - AFP
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New Zealand remove Root, Bethell and Brook to close on huge win
New Zealand captured three prized wickets Tuesday as England slid closer to defeat on 193-5 at lunch on day four of the third and final Test in Hamilton.
Ollie Pope was at the crease on 17 and Gus Atkinson 19, with England's prospects increasingly bleak in the face of an unlikely target of 658.
The tourists batted brightly but lost Jacob Bethell for 76, Joe Root for 54 and Harry Brook for just one after resuming at 18-2.
It was not certain whether Ben Stokes would bat after the England captain suffered a hamstring injury on Monday.
It means New Zealand may need only four more wickets to complete a consolation win after going 2-0 down in the three-Test series.
England looked comfortable before Root departed after putting on 104 for the third wicket with Bethell.
England's greatest run-scorer was trapped lbw, attempting to sweep left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.
Having been given not out, New Zealand successfully reviewed, with ball-tracking replays showing the ball would have hit the middle stump.
It left 33-year-old Root 28 runs short of becoming the fifth player to score 13,000 Test runs.
Brook, who scored match-winning centuries in each of the first two Tests, was out cheaply for the second time at Seddon Park, caught behind off a sharply rising Will O'Rourke delivery.
Left-hander Bethell batted fluently, striking 13 fours and a six, until he swung at a wide Tim Southee delivery to be caught at deep point
Southee, who is playing his final Test, has taken 2-34, while Matt Henry, O'Rourke and Santner have one wicket apiece.
S.Lambert--JdB
