Through a combination of a series already won by England, the various adornments for the retiring Tim Southee, and fancy dress being in vogue on the banks of leafy Seddon Park, this final Test could easily have taken on an end of term vibe. Fast and loose cricket often bubbles up when players are tired and the finish line is into sight.
What followed, initially at least, was pretty uncompromising from both sides. New Zealand were put in and appeared not just driven by a decent send-off for Southee but perhaps also a sense of atonement for the 2-0 scoreline, while England’s seamers hammered away with little sign of any edge having been dulled by their recent golf trip to Lake Taupo. Two-thirds of the way through the opening day, it was an arm wrestle.
But come stumps England had forced things their way once more. New Zealand, having begun with a wicketless morning and 105 runs shared by Tom Latham and Will Young, closed on a seemingly sub-par 315 for nine. Had Mitch Santner not clubbed an unbeaten 50, signing things off with a six, it could have been worse for the hosts. Granted, they had been inserted by Ben Stokes at the toss but few captains do so at this delightful little ground expecting a rush of wickets to follow.
It may be that the best thing England did before this one – other than 18 holes at Kinloch – was to freshen up their attack by swapping in Matthew Potts for Chris Woakes. Not that Woakes had done much wrong in the series. But it let loose a seamer who had visibly been straining at the leash with Potts, built like a bulldog from the backside up, delivering 21 overs of grunt for figures of three for 75.
Among these came a moment on which the day appeared to pivot and continued something of a personal stranglehold. Kane Williamson simply loves Seddon Park, having come into the game with a Test average of 92.4 from 11 outings on the ground. And having deftly chiselled his way to 44, and steered the hosts to 185 for three at the start of the evening session, there was an ominous sense of another feast brewing.
But New Zealand’s master is less fond of Potts, against whom he had fallen three times in four encounters three English summers ago. That statistic now reads four in five – eight runs for four dismissals from 50 balls to be precise – after a pretty galling dismissal that saw those L’Occitane-soft hands deflect the ball back on to his stumps.
There was an attempt from Williamson to kick the ball away that met fresh air and, rather uncharacteristically for such a cool type, a head thrown back in disgust. The self-flagellation is unlikely to have subsided much thereafter, with Williamson watching on from the pavilion as New Zealand lost a further five wickets in bright sunshine. Only Santner’s late rally, and some fun from Southee, eased things.
England’s determination not to relent with the series already secured and having clocked up 17 Tests for the year was pretty evident. For one, Stokes thundered in for 23 overs, his heaviest workload for two years, and thus his most since knee surgery 12 months ago. And then there was the sight of Brydon Carse sending a few words the way of Potts when his Durham team-mate had failed to pick up a pulled four on the rope.
Carse was pushing through the pain barrier here, with his feet left pretty mangled after two hugely impressive Tests on tour. Shortly after sending daggers the way of Potts he was rewarded for his troubles, Rachin Ravindra driving uppishly and to slip on 18 with Ben Duckett, who earlier grassed two half-chances off Latham, holding on safely.
This was the first of two for 78 from Carse, and the third of the afternoon. Latham, 63, and the recalled Young, 42, had dominated initially, the latter having highlighted some of the folly of his omission post-India with 10 sweet boundaries. But when he fell to a sharp delivery from Gus Atkinson, and Latham tickled Potts to Ollie Pope down leg to open his particular account, the tide began its shift towards England.
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If Williamson’s dismissal after tea was a case of a lock being picked then what followed was like the Swat team piling through with catching, a feature of England’s superiority, on show once more. First came Jacob Bethell going full goalkeeper at cover to remove the dangerous Tom Blundell for 21, then Harry Brook pulling off a relay catch on the rope to pouch Matt Henry; the type that remains spectacular but almost de rigueur.
The catch that arguably had the most on it was that of the retiring Southee, who walked through a guard of honour and set about his personal bid to turn 95 sixes into three-figures. He crashed three more as it happened, delighting the latest bumper crowd, before his attempt to cart a fourth went skywards and was held by Carse.
Soon after Carse was down with cramp; another sign of a so-called dead-rubber Test match that has been met with nothing more than total commitment.
