Tea England 354 (Duckett 113, Bethell 74, Brook 58, Smith 4-91, Foulkes 3-35, O'Rourke 3-53) trail New Zealand 438 (Conway 157, Latham 151, Stokes 4-70) by 84 runs
New Zealand took eight wickets for 131 runs to seize back control of the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy decider, taking an 84-run first-innings lead on a dry Trent Bridge pitch showing signs of variable bounce. Nathan Smith, Will O'Rourke, and concussion replacement Zak Foulkes shared the wickets between them, running through England's middle order before mopping up the tail.
England fought back on the second day to reach the close 223 for 2 but neither Jacob Bethell (74) nor Joe Root (21) added to their overnight scores, while Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes both fell cheaply. Harry Brook's 58 was the only substantial contribution on the third day, and several dismissals suggested that batting last on this pitch will be a stern challenge.
Root was pinned on the front pad by a ball that nipped in sharply when Nathan Smith went wide on the crease, with Rod Tucker's lbw decision upheld via an umpire's call on review. It was the fourth time he has been dismissed by Smith in 105 balls in Tests and his wicket gave New Zealand an early lift after a brutal second day in the field.
Five balls later, Bethell was caught in two minds as to whether he should play at O'Rourke's tempter in the channel or leave it. Ultimately, he did neither, only withdrawing his bat from the line of the ball after it had struck his outside edge and skewed to second slip, where Tom Latham tumbled backward to hold onto a sharp chance.
Smith's bustling wicket-to-wicket bowling has been hugely effective this month and he surpassed Matt Henry as the series' leading wicket-taker when his namesake Jamie flashed him to slip. When Daryl Mitchell's excellent low catch was cleared by third umpire Adrian Holdstock, England had lost three wickets in the first 31 minutes of play.
Stokes was given a rousing reception when he walked out to bat after missing the second Test on disciplinary grounds, but the crowd went silent soon after when he was cleaned up by Foulkes' nip-backer. He failed to make Devon Conway pay for dropping a difficult chance in the gully, and now averages 16.23 across his 13 Test innings since the start of the Ashes.
Foulkes came into the match as a concussion replacement on the second evening, after Blair Tickner was hit on the helmet while batting, and bowled a tight spell of 1 for 16 in six overs before lunch; Tom Blundell's presence up to the stumps - replicated throughout Smith's two spells - ensured England's batters remained firmly in their crease.
Brook played with characteristic attacking intent, whipping and slicing consecutive boundaries off Smith and pulling O'Rourke away in front of square on his way to a 66-ball half-century. But he lost his off stump to a Foulkes legcutter after lunch, which beat him comprehensively on the outside edge; he has reached 50 three times in the series, but never 60.
Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer hung around valiantly as Latham burned through New Zealand's reviews, and were both reprieved off O'Rourke's bowling. Archer punched back a return catch which O'Rourke fumbled, cutting his hand in the process, while Ben Sears - who struggled with his run-up and was down on pace - put down a sitter at mid-on.
But after taking the second new ball, Smith found some extra bounce from just short of a length to have Archer caught by Mitchell at slip via the glove for 15, and Atkinson steered to the same man in the same spot for 23 off O'Rourke. When Josh Tongue miscued Foulkes to midwicket, England had lost their last three wickets for four runs in four overs.
