Gus Atkinson claimed an outstanding hat-trick as England took command of the second Check towards New Zealand, knocking over the house facet’s tail in type.
The Surrey seamer took out Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee with three successive deliveries, simply the fifteenth time an English bowler has achieved the feat in Check cricket.
Atkinson turned the warmth on the Black Caps in his ninth over, racking up three completely different modes of dismissal to finish their innings on 125 and hand the vacationers a lead of 155.
The 26-year-old uprooted Smith’s center stump with the third ball of his over, then had Henry backing away from a brief ball that he fended to Ben Duckett at gully.
Final man Tim Southee stood between Atkinson and a spot within the historical past books however had no reply because the ball got here full and straight, smashing his entrance pad lifeless in entrance of center stump.
Southee reviewed the lbw determination in hope greater than expectation however England’s celebrations had been already nicely beneath approach. Rod Tucker raised his finger for a second time to seal the deal, with Atkinson registering the fiftieth Check hat-trick in world cricket – 47 within the males’s recreation and three within the girls’s.
The final participant to get one was South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in 2021, with Moeen Ali the latest to take action for England, towards the Proteas on the Oval in 2017.
Stuart Broad took two in his profession, making Atkinson the 14th England participant on the listing. Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom are the one different two England gamers this century to say a Check hat-trick.
