England ended 2024 with a crushing 423-run defeat against New Zealand in Hamilton. Injured captain Ben Stokes was not fit enough to go down with the ship.
Facing a mammoth chase of 658 and the series already secured, England finished ninth on 4th afternoon with 234 not out. Stokes decided not to risk aggravating his hamstring problem by chasing a lost cause.
He watched his team slump to the fourth-highest defeat in England’s history from behind sunglasses and will undergo tests before leaving the country to determine the severity of his latest setback.
England have made it clear that they dislike the concept of a ‘dead rubber’ in international cricket, but having already clinched the Crow-Thorpe Trophy with stunning wins in Christchurch and Wellington, there is at least a chance that a major dud like this could occur. .
They finished the year with 9 wins and 8 losses in a tough program of 17 Tests, taking the series 3 wins and 2 losses. This is a tally that accurately reflects the team’s journey of ups and downs in the early stages of the transition.
The biggest show of defiance came from one of the fresh-faced youngsters they introduced, 21-year-old Jacob Bethell, who shot a stylish 76 in the morning session to end his maiden tour on a high note.
He has hit half-centuries in all three Tests against the Black Caps, and all three came in the second innings with the tone of the game well established, but confirmed rare promise in unfamiliar positions.
With both Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope struggling, his name will continue to attract more attention.
It looked like a first-class maiden would call for Bethell, but he instead took the final wicket of Tim Southee’s outstanding career.
The veteran seamer retired after the match and took the youngster’s scalp as a leaving gift.
England didn’t stay long after lunch, losing their last three wickets in the space of 12 deliveries as they decided to accept the inevitable.
England’s position at the start of the match could not have been more bleak. Both openers were caught in a chaotic six-over burst in the third evening and an unimaginably large target still lay ahead of them.
But the scale of the challenge seemed to have a liberating effect on Bethel. He timed the ball right from the start and knocked down an early boundary.
Matt Henry, the man responsible for completely ruining Crawley’s tour, found himself on target when Bethell put him up for fourth and then fell back to take sixth at mid-wicket. The conditions of the game may have lacked the danger, but the style of the stroke play was undeniable.
After 10 overs, England had completed their total with a sedate 61 runs, but New Zealand had time and scoreboard pressure.
Root was dropped from Southee on 19 but joined Bethell and scored a fifty to end the year, which saw him lead the world statistics with 1,556 runs and six centuries.
After a 104-run stand with Bethell, he surprisingly fell for his old stalwart’s sweep shot, slightly misreading the length to pound the ball off the surface.
Will O’Rourke clearly shared the credit for unsettling the batsmen with a menacing spell that continued to top 90mph, and he received his just reward moments later when he made light work of Harry Brook.
Brook, fresh from the first golden duck of his international career, took a frantic swipe at the fourth ball and was completely broken off the sixth. O’Rourke lifted one foot violently, grabbed Brook’s bat and lifted it defensively.
Next up was Bethell, who aimed a sumptuous swing at the first ball of the new Southee spell and tip-toed high to give the hometown hero his 391st and final scalp.
Pope took a hard blow to the right forearm as O’Rourke continued his fiery spell, confirming his status as a rising star with a top speed of a blistering 95mph.
England’s resolve disappeared as the afternoon began as they lost their last four wickets for 19 runs. Pope attempted a reverse ramp shot and lost his off-stump to Henry, handing him the wicket. If Henry had been there it would have been a reckless death and his tail would quickly retract.
Gus Atkinson took a big hit, but he joined Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts to gift Santner his wicket and invite England to fall on their swords.
Stokes wisely protected himself in a situation where he could not even save himself by not moving in front of the locker room.
