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New Zealand batter Kane Williamson scored his 33rd Test century as the Black Caps strengthened their hold in the third and final Test against England in Hamilton on Monday.
Williamson matched Australian counterpart Steve Smith to score his 33rd Test hundred as the Kiwis looked to salvage something from the series with a victory having already lost the opening two matches, as per ICC. Only England right-hander Joe Root has more Test centuries than Williamson among current players, with the former New Zealand captain once again at his brilliant best as he reached triple figures with yet another knock that put his side in a dominant position. After Williamson's departure on 156 in 204 balls (with 20 fours and a six), New Zealand continued to flourish with middle and lower-middle-order batters adding valuable runs. Rachin Ravindra (44 in 90 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Tom Blundell (44 in 55 balls, with two fours and three sixes), Daryl Mitchell (60 in 84 balls, with seven fours and two sixes), and Mitchell Santner (49 in 38 balls, with three fours and five sixes) helped fatten the lead and the hosts were finally bowled out for 453, setting England a massive target of 658. Jacob Bethell (3/72) was the top bowler for England, while skipper Ben Stokes and Shoaib Bashir got two scalps. Joe Root, Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts got one wicket each. In reply, England faltered in their second innings as well, losing both their openers in quick succession. Tim Southee removed Ben Duckett for 4 runs in a second over, after the batter missed a wild slash and dragged the ball onto the stumps. Three overs later, Matt Henry trapped Zak Crawley (5) in front of leg, a DRS decision that went in New Zealand's favour. At the end of Day 3, England were 18/2, still needing 640 more runs with two full days of play left. Root and Bethell are on the crease for England. Earlier during the match, England won the toss and opted to field first. Half-centuries from Mitchell Santner (76 in 117 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes) and Tom Latham (63 in 135 balls, with nine fours) were the standouts for Kiwis while useful contributions from Williamson (44 in 87 balls, with nine fours) and Will Young (42 in 92 balls, with 10 fours) pushed Kiwis to 347 runs. Potts (4/90) and Atkinson (3/66) were the top bowlers for England while Brydon Carse got two and Stokes got one. Coming in to bat in their first innings, England were put under pressure by New Zealand seamers in their opening burst. Matt Henry (4/48) removed both the openers - Zak Crawley (21 in 14 balls, with five fours) and Ben Duckett (11) - in quick succession. Will O'Rourke (3/33) then ran through the England middle order, snapping Jacob Bethell (12), Harry Brook (0) and Joe Root (32 in 42 balls, with six fours) to reduce them to 82/5. Santner (3/7), who had been New Zealand's top scorer with the bat, also struck thrice before Henry cleaned up the tail as New Zealand strangled the visiting batting lineup - restricting them at 143, giving the team a lead of 204 runs. Only breathing space England could afford was a 52-run stand between Ollie Pope (24 in 42 balls, with five fours) and skipper Stokes (27 in 43 balls, with five fours). From 77/2, England lost their next eight wickets for just 76 runs. Later, Kiwis increased their lead to a massive 657 runs, setting 658 runs for England to win. Brief Scores: NZ: 347 and 453 (Kane Williamson 156, Daryl Mitchell 60, Jacob Bethell 3/72) vs England: 143 and 18/2 (Jacob Bethell 9*, Zak Crawley 5, Tim Southee 1/4). (ANI)
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