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       England’s Jacob Bethell plays a shot during the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.—AFP

       WELLINGTON: Gus Atkinson claimed a hat-trick before England’s batsmen let loose to power the visitors 533 runs ahead of New Zealand on Saturday and in full control of the second Test.

       The flagging home side will need to chase an enormous score in the fourth innings after England went to stumps at 378-5 at Basin Reserve on day two.

       Captain Ben Stokes resisted any urge to declare, instead cementing England’s position of power as four batters posted half-centuries to build on their first-innings advantage of 155.

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       Joe Root was at the crease on 73 while Stokes struck a whirlwind 35 not out against a tiring attack, after Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett, who put on 187 for the second wicket, were both dismissed in the 90s and first-innings centurion Harry Brook bagged a half century before departing for 55.

       The fast-moving nature of the Test means the Black Caps should theoretically have ample time to reach any target, as they bid to square the three-match series after losing the opener in Christchurch by eight wickets.

       However, history is firmly against them. The highest successful fourth-innings chase at the Basin Reserve is 274, achieved by Pakistan against the hosts in 2003.

       New Zealand’s hopes of getting back into the Test were scuppered in the opening 40 minutes of play when they lost their last five wickets to be all out for 125.

       Atkinson (4-31) removed the last three wickets with successive deliveries to become the first Englishman to claim a Test hat-trick since Moeen Ali against South Africa seven years ago.

       “It was great. As a bowler you think about getting five-fors and 10-fors and that sort of thing,” Atkinson said. “To get a hat-trick, I wasn’t thinking about it too much at all but there’s not many chances to do it and I was feeling pretty good when I was running in for that third ball.

       “The plan this morning was to go hard at them. It worked out pretty well and the boys did really well with the bat, and we’ve got a pretty healthy lead. I don’t know what the plan is for tomorrow, to be honest. Well assess conditions and go from there.”

       The hosts started the day on 86-5 in reply to England’s 280 and Brydon Carse (4-46) quickly deepened their plight by sending back Tom Blundell for 16 and nighwatchman Will O’Rourke for a duck in one over.

       Atkinson took over from the other end to mop up the tail in three deliveries, first removing Nathan Smith for 14 from an unfortunate inside edge.

       Matt Henry reared up to a fizzing bouncer and diverted it to Duckett at gully for a golden duck on the next delivery before Tim Southee was trapped plumb in front.

       After the cheap loss of opener Zak Crawley, Duckett and Bethell made batting look comparatively easy.

       Bethell illustrated why the selectors took a gamble on him for this series with some fine shot-making and was approaching his maiden first class hundred in his second Test when he was caught behind off a thick edge for 96.

       The 21-year-old looked crestfallen as he exited after a 118-ball knock which featured 10 fours and three sixes.

       Veteran quick Southee (2-72) returned four overs later to also ruin Duckett’s day, bowling the 30-year-old for 92 off the bottom of his bat.

       New Zealand’s bowlers otherwise toiled in vain, which explained the unbridled celebrations when Brook attacked the spin of Glenn Phillips only to hole out to O’Rourke at long off.

       Ollie Pope fell for 10 off seamer Henry (2-76), who earlier dismissed Crawley for eight.

       Henry said New Zealand needed to remain positive.

       “Obviously we’ll have a wee reflection overnight and we’ve got a big job to do tomorrow,” he said. “I think the boys will look forward to getting stuck in and getting into the fight. There’s still plenty of time in this game.”

       Scoreboard

       ENGLAND (1st Innings) 280

       NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings, overnight 86-5):

       T. Latham b Stokes 17

       D. Conway c Brook b Atkinson 11

       K. Williamson c Pope b Carse 37

       R. Ravindra c Carse b Woakes 3

       D. Mitchell c Pope b Carse 6

       W. O’Rourke lbw Carse 0

       T. Blundell b Carse 16

       G. Phillips not out 16

       N. Smith b Atkinson 14

       M. Henry c Duckett b Atkinson 0

       T. Southee lbw Atkinson 0

       EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-4) 5

       TOTAL (all out, 34.5 overs) 125

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-18 (Conway), 2-53 (Latham), 3-64 (Ravindra), 4-74 (Williamson), 5-79 (Mitchell), 6-95 (Blundell), 7-96 (O’Rourke), 8-125 (Smith), 9-125 (Henry), 10-125 (Southee).

       BOWLING: Woakes 8-1-26-1 (1nb), Atkinson 8.5-0-31-4 (2nb), Carse 10-2-46-4 (1nb), Stokes 8-0-21-1

       ENGLAND (2nd Innings):

       Z. Crawley c Conway b Henry 8

       B. Duckett b Southee 92

       J. Bethell c Blundell b Southee 96

       J. Root not out 73

       H. Brook c O’Rourke b Phillips 55

       O. Pope c Mitchell b Henry 10

       B. Stokes not out 35

       EXTRAS (LB-2, W-7) 9

       TOTAL (for five wickets, 76 overs) 378

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-9 (Crawley), 2-196 (Bethell), 3-211 (Duckett), 4-306 (Brook), 5-327 (Pope)

       TO BAT: C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, B. Carse, S. Bashir

       BOWLING: Southee 14-0-72-2 (1w), Henry 15-0-76-2, Smith 16-0-74-0 (1w), O’Rourke 15-0-79-0 (1w), Phillips 16-0-75-1

       Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2024