Jamie How marked his 27th birthday with an unbeaten 66, but New Zealand were still in a little trouble on the fifth and final day of the first Test against England at Lord’s yesterday.
New Zealand in their second innings were 113 for three at lunch, a lead of just 71 runs, with 72 overs still to be bowled.
First innings hero Brendon McCullum was 10 not out. New Zealand resumed on 40 without loss, a deficit of two, with How unbeaten on 26 and Aaron Redmond, who had avoided a pair on his Test debut, 14 not out.
Only seven runs had been added when Redmond, pushing forward with an angled bat, edged James Anderson straight to Andrew Strauss at first slip.
And they were only 10 in front when, 17 balls later, James Marshall was leg before wicket for a duck to an in-swinging delivery from left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom, who had taken four for 77 in the first innings, the first with a changed ball.
Anderson almost struck next when Ross Taylor, attempting to withdraw the bat when on 3, edged him between the diving Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood, at second and third slips respectively.
An even better chance was missed when How, on 46, drove loosely at the last delivery of Stuart Broad’s first over yesterday, only for Strauss to drop the head-high slip chance as the ball burst through his hands.
New Zealand were then 75 for two, just 33 ahead.
How then got away with another unconvincing drive to complete his second Test 50, off 98 balls with seven fours.
When England switched to spinner Monty Panesar, in the 20th over of the day, How swept the left-armer’s second ball for four. But Panesar did not have long to wait for a wicket. His sixth ball had Taylor, struck on the boot, lbw and New Zealand were, in effect, 57 for three.
England, who were well placed at 148 for one after a first century stand between the opening duo of Strauss and Cook, had to settle for a modest first-innings lead of 42 after being bowled out for 319.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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