Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and it was the moment when England began to wonder if the first day of the third Test could be in their favour.
On the field he calls home, Kane Williamson had ominously risen to 44 shortly after tea, with New Zealand 185 for three and seemed happy with life after Ben Stokes asked them to bat.
However, for once, Williamson’s gentle hands got him into trouble. Playing a Matthew Potts ball with his characteristic lateness, he was horrified to see it bounce off the ground and then return to his stumps. Williamson attempted to intercept the ball with his outstretched right leg, but was unable to reach it.
When it bounced to middle and leg, New Zealand knew their best chance for a match-defining first innings total might have come and gone.
At 105 for no loss shortly after lunch, they had been making England struggle on a surface that kept the seamers interested but allowed little room for error.
However, Williamson’s wicket was part of a collapse in which the hosts lost seven for 126, and England confirmed one of the trends of recent weeks: when the game is in balance, they are the team most likely to seize the ball.
England fought back on the first day of the third Test to reduce New Zealand to 315-9 in Hamilton.
It was Matthew Potts’ wicket on Kane Williamson that helped turn the day in England’s favour.
Potts, who replaced Chris Woakes, took three wickets in what is only his fourth Test of the year.
In the tough moments, after a flurry of boundaries against England’s short-ball tactics, New Zealand had reached 315 for nine – still below par at a venue that often becomes flat.
That the day should have turned into a duel between Potts, playing his first game of the series after replacing Chris Woakes, and Williamson was perhaps the least surprising part.
In the summer of 2022, as Potts embarked on what has since been an on-again, off-again Test career, he removed Williamson three times during England’s 3-0 victory. This latest dismissal took his record against the New Zealand spinner to four wickets for 11 runs in 50 balls – not rabbit territory, but there is certainly room for bragging rights.
After all, Seddon Park is where Williamson scores runs with his eyes closed. Four of his six most recent Test innings here have 200 not out, 104 not out, 251 and 133 not out. In total, he has witnessed six of his 32 hundred tests. Even after this dismissal, his Hamilton Test average was 91. That England got rid of him six times before a half-century was a minor triumph.
It was one of three wickets for Potts, who can consider himself unlucky to appear in only his fourth Test of the 17 England have played this year, and may yet work his way into the workhorse role for next winter’s Ashes.
He had started with a fortuitous leg-side choke to get rid of New Zealand captain Tom Latham for 63, and then induced a rash drive from Glenn Phillips, who was caught at deep backward point by Zak Crawley for five. .
And Potts’ performance was the centerpiece of what became a good day for England as they sought the first 3-0 in New Zealand by a visiting team since Australia 25 years ago.
Not far away was Gus Atkinson, nearing the end of a triumphant first year in Test cricket.
Gus Atkinson also took three to reach 50 Test wickets in the fast bowler’s 11th Test.
Ben Stokes battled through 23 overs and bowled enthusiastically in an encouraging sign for England.
Harry Brook made a great boundary catch to help him dismiss Matt Henry at the end of the day.
New Zealand great Tim Southee received a guard of honor in his 107th and final Test match
England’s comeback began when Harry Brook caught Will Young well at second slip for 42. And when he removed the dangerous Daryl Mitchell, well caught by Stokes falling at mid-wicket for 14, Atkinson picked up 50 wickets in just his 11th Test . The last England bowler to get there in fewer games was Ian Botham, in his tenth, in 1978.
Brydon Carse didn’t let the blisters on his left foot stop him from making another wholehearted effort.
He had Rachin Ravindra drifting towards the two-gullied square for a typically unfulfilled 18 in the last over before tea. Carse later persuaded Tom Blundell, fresh from his futile second innings century at Wellington, to dive high to cover, where Jacob Bethell made the chance look easy.
Meanwhile, Stokes ran with gusto, sending out as many overs (23) in a Test innings as he has done since March 2022. He was finally rewarded when Matt Henry, after hitting a six over fine leg, stood magnificently. Brook’s rope, dancing off the pitch, then back onto it, and deftly keeping the ball under control.
Tim Southee, in his 107th and final Test, walked towards an honor guard of England fielders and quickly removed Stokes for two sixes, then Atkinson for a third, taking his career total to 98. When he aimed to a quarter, Carse was under capture midway.
New Zealand were grateful for Mitchell Santner’s lively, unbeaten 50, reached with six in a row after Potts’ last ball of the night. But this – in the end – was England’s day.