England started the day uncharacteristically passively in the field. Mitchell Santner and Will O'Rourke, the New Zealand 10th wicket pair, were unmoved for the first 67 minutes of the day as England battled hard without success in creating early opportunities.

Despite being armed with the second new ball, Santner rarely had to contend with a single catcher behind the wicket. There were even occasions where England left their fielders on the boundary, effectively gifting Santner a strike-retaining single at the end of the over.

New Zealand put on 32 runsbefore Matt Potts bowled Santner to eventually end the New Zealand first innings for 347. If the first hour of the day was merely frustrating for England, the afternoon session was exasperating as the Black Caps ran through the England middle and lower order, claiming the final eight wickets for just 66 runs.

Here's how the collapse unfolded:

Henry on the money with the new ball

Even across the opening two Test defeats, Matt Henry has been a real nuisance with the new ball. Today, the out-of-form Zak Crawley tried to hit himself back into form, racing to 21 off 13 deliveries (scoring 16 of those runs off 11 Tim Southee deliveries) before he once again fell to his nemesis, this time Henry claiming an excellent caught and bowled, diving forward in his follow through to intercept the ball just before it hit the turf. It's the fifth time in five innings that Henry has dismissed Crawley this series; their head-to-head across the three Tests currently reads: five runs, five wickets.

Henry also accounted for the dangerous Ben Duckett with a beautifully precise piece of new-ball bowling. Having beaten Duckett's outside edge earlier in the piece with a ball that nibbled away from the England opener, Henry this time seamed a ball into Duckett, beating his defence and trapping him in front with an lbw shout so adjacent that it had Henry celebrating before the finger was raised and Duckett not even contemplating a review. New Zealand had two early wickets but we had seen this before this tour only for England to bat their way back into the contest.

O'Rourke blows away the England middle order

Joe Root and Jacob Bethell steadied the ship following Henry's double strike. Root, in particular, looked in the mood, picking up from where he left off in Wellington, racing to 28 off as many deliveries. There was a noticeable tone shift, though, when O'Rourke was brought into the attack after lunch with the score 59-2.

He took an over or two to find his rhythm, starting in the low-to-mid 80s (mph), before cranking it up a couple of gears. He had Bethell hopping with a series of short and sharp deliveries, causing discomfort to the otherwise unflappable England youngster. His hostility soon brought tangible rewards. One ball after firing a short delivery into Bethell's gloves, O'Rourke sent down a tempter, a full delivery wide of off stump. Bethell couldn't resist the opportunity to get back onto his front foot, but could only drive the ball aerially into the vicinity of Glenn Phillips at backward point who claimed an outstanding diving catch.

Then the big moment. Harry Brook, the newly crowned No.1 Test batter in the world, strutted out to the middle primed to undergo a third successive first innings rescue mission. It wasn't to be on this occasion. O'Rourke greeted Brook with a fast delivery, angled in from wide of the crease. Brook looked to dab it behind square on the off side but he could only drag the ball onto his stumps. O'Rourke had two in two.

England suffered a dramatic collapse in Hamilton, losing eight wickets for just 66 runs.

They are trailing by 204 runs in the third Test against New Zealand.

Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/cpM4HJNUpl pic.twitter.com/oPrNcM4Akl

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 15, 2024

There was no hat-trick for O'Rourke but he did have the not-so-unsubstantial consolation prize of the wicket of Root an over later. It was a similar delivery that accounted for Brook. Root looked to guide a ball towards deep third but was cramped for room, only capable of directing the ball to Will Young at gully. O'Rourke had figures of 3-13 from his first four overs and England were 82-5; suddenly 347 looked a very long way away.

O'Rourke had bowled challenging spells with minimal reward previously this series, but today he was irresistible bowling with serious pace – he bowled unchanged for eight overs, maintaining an average speed of 88mph. New Zealand are a side in transition and in O'Rourke they have a future star; there are few young bowlers as exciting as O'Rourke in the world game.

Santner stops the rebuild in its tracks

Even after the O'Rourke three-for, there were signs that England could manufacture a rebuild through Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes. The pair quietly put on 50 without much alarm and there were signs that the New Zealand attack was creaking. O'Rourke's eight-over spell had eventually been negotiated with and Pope in particular was tucking into Southee's second spell. And with three seamers rather than four, and spin yet to be bowled in the Test, you could envisage how a fightback could materialise.

Such hopes were quickly extinguished by the recalled Santner, who accounted for Pope and then Stokes in his first seven deliveries. Carse followed suit the following over and in the blink of an eye, 134-5 became 143 all out. England batted for 35.4 overs, just 7.3 overs more than Potts bowled across the New Zealand first innings.

England brittleness on display again

As good as England had been over the first two Tests, particularly at Wellington, they are no strangers to collapses of this ilk. This was their sixth sub-160 score in 2024 and the fifth time a complete innings has lasted for fewer than 40 overs this year. Based on their recent history, you would almost expect them to endure two Test-losing collapses across a five-Test series; it's a trend they will need to reverse in 2025 with India and Australia on the horizon.

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