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Second Test, Wellington (day two of five)
England 280 (Brook 123; Smith 4-86) & 378-5 (Bethell 96, Duckett 92)
New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46)
England lead by 533 runs
Jacob Bethell stroked 96 after Gus Atkinson's hat-trick as England took a stranglehold on the second Test against New Zealand after two days in Wellington.
Bethell, the 21-year-old winning his second cap, gave another demonstration of his immense promise in falling four runs short of becoming the youngest England man in 85 years to make a Test hundred.
He added 187 for the second wicket with fellow left-hander Ben Duckett, who made 92, to give England complete dominance over the lacklustre Kiwis.
When Duckett was out, England's lead was 366. Joe Root helped himself to 73 not out, Harry Brook 55 and Ben Stokes clobbered an unbeaten 35 from 26 balls to leave the visitors 378-5 at stumps.
All this after pace bowler Atkinson took the final three New Zealand first-innings wickets in successive deliveries to claim England's 15th Test hat-trick.
Atkinson had Nathan Smith play on, got Matt Henry fending to gully then trapped Tim Southee stone-dead leg before.
That left New Zealand 125 all out, trailing by 155, a deficit pushed to a massive 533 by the close.
Barring a world-record run chase, England will complete their first Test series victory in this country since 2008.
It was hard to imagine a scenario where the second day in Wellington would come close to matching the chaotic nature of a first that included a stunning Brook century and the fall of 15 wickets.
Yet in the first hour alone, New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 39 runs, Atkinson produced his moment of history and England opener Zak Crawley was once again out to his nemesis Henry.
And while the immediate consequence of England's super Saturday is a significant step towards their first away series victory in two years, perhaps the lasting memory will be another milestone in Bethell's dizzying rise.
Although he narrowly missed on becoming only the fourth Englishman to make his maiden first-class hundred in a Test, he has given Stokes and Brendon McCullum a decision to make when wicketkeeper Jamie Smith returns from paternity leave.
Bethell's edge behind off Southee just before tea was a deflating moment, leaving the remainder of the day a question of whether England wanted to bowl before the close.
Perhaps mindful of their last visit to this ground, a one-run defeat in 2023, they are leaving nothing to chance. On a pitch showing increasing uneven bounce, the New Zealand chase is a Hail Mary.
Like his second-innings 50 on debut in Christchurch last week, Bethell's runs came in a relatively low-pressure situation.
Yet his impressive performances will spark debate over whether England have to find a place for him, especially as Crawley continues to struggle. Caught at mid-wicket for eight, Crawley has been out to Henry in all four innings of this series without scoring a run off the seamer.
Bethell is calm, organised and compact. While Duckett attempted all manner of trick shots, Bethell busily pushed the scoring along with elegance and the occasional fortune from edges through the slips.
Savage on anything short, Bethell pulled three sixes. Duckett had two minor let-offs, one on 22 when he tickled Smith down the leg side off the fingertips of wicketkeeper Blundell, then on 33 when he edged a snorter off Southee over the same man.
Bethell played drives on both sides and cuts behind point. Only late on was he tied down. Hit by Will O'Rourke, he flapped at Southee and a top-edge just evaded Henry running back from mid-on.
In the same over, an attempted drive resulted in his downfall. Century missed, Bethell received a rousing ovation from the crowd and a consoling pat on the back from Duckett, who fell short of his own ton by playing on off Southee.
English (US) ·