Rachin Ravindra’s composed half-century steadied New Zealand on day three of the deciding third Test against England at Trent Bridge, after Jofra Archer’s twin strikes had briefly threatened to swing the contest in the hosts’ favour.
With the series locked at 1-1, New Zealand slipped to 12-2 in their second innings as Archer struck twice after tea. By the close, however, the visitors had recovered to 120-3, building an overall lead of 204 on a pitch increasingly showing signs of uneven bounce after three days under intense heat.
Ravindra finished the day unbeaten on 60, his second half-century of the series, sharing an unbroken 69-run stand with Daryl Mitchell, who ended on 26 not out. Concussion substitute Zak Foulkes, who earlier took 3-35, praised the pair’s composure under pressure and said New Zealand would look to build further in the morning session.
The platform for New Zealand’s position was laid earlier in the day when Nathan Smith claimed 4-91 and Foulkes struck twice to dismiss England for 354, establishing an 84-run first-innings lead. England had lost three wickets for just 11 runs at the start of play, with Joe Root and Jacob Bethell both falling without adding to their overnight scores.
50 up for Rachin Ravindra! Reaching his half-century in style 👏
Watch play LIVE in NZ on@skysportnz or audio commentary via
the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube Channel!
LIVE scoring at https://t.co/3YsfR1Y3Sm pic.twitter.com/CcGQhQIChH— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 27, 2026
New Zealand’s reply did not start smoothly, with both centurions from the first innings, Tom Latham and Devon Conway, dismissed cheaply for four and five respectively. Conway was struck on the helmet by Archer before falling three balls later, with the fast bowler finishing with impressive figures of 2-14 from seven overs.
England, who have lost six of their last eight Tests, face mounting pressure with results in Nottingham potentially having significant implications for the futures of managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum.
The team has also dealt with off-field distractions after captain Ben Stokes and teammate Gus Atkinson were dropped from the second Test for breaching curfew rules following the opening Test victory.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir, who bowled nine economical but wicketless overs, acknowledged the deteriorating pitch would add pressure to any fourth-innings chase, but said there remained plenty of excitement within the camp heading into the final two days.
– AFP
Photo: Reuters/Andrew Boyers
