Watch: Jack Leach bowled a dream delivery to see off Will Young in the second New Zealand-England Test, with the ball drifting in before pitching and turning to hit the top of off-stump.
Leach has enjoyed a good Test match, taking five of the first 13 wickets to fall in conditions not usually renowned for assisting spin bowling. And while he has had some special work from Ollie Pope to thank for several of his dismissals, this was a piece of brilliance all his own.
England had already begun to surge, both openers gone in quick succession after putting up a 149-run first-wicket stand. Leach struck first, Devon Conway caught by Pope at short leg, before Joe Root pinned Tom Latham lbw.
However, there was no doubt that the pick of the wickets was Leach to Young. Bowling from round the wicket, Leach put enough action on the ball for it to shape in, before it landed and gripped, spinning past Young’s groping outside-edge and hitting the top of off-stump.
“He’s been trying for that, he’s been dreaming of that, has Jack Leach,” said David Gower on commentary. “Lovely shape, he’s been just getting that little bit of drift and the bit of grip as well, and that is exactly what you dream of as a left-arm spinner.”
Young went for eight, leaving New Zealand 167-3.
Watch the Jack Leach dismissal of Will Young below:
Jack Leach, that is gorgeous 😍#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/GailfXKkCT
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 26, 2023
