England fightback in third Test, Duckett’s century:Day 2 score 223/2, Root-Bethell unbeaten; New Zealand all out for 438

England made a strong comeback against New Zealand in the ongoing third Test at Trent Bridge. By the end of play on Friday, the team had scored 223 runs for two wickets in their first innings. Joe Root is unbeaten on 21, and Jacob Bethell is on 74. While opener Ben Duckett was out after scoring a century. On the first day of the match being played in Nottingham, New Zealand, who won the toss and batted, were all out for 438 runs in their first innings. Their openers had a record partnership of 317 runs. Tom Latham scored 151, and Devon Conway scored 157 runs. England’s poor start, Gay out for zero
Batting after lunch, England had a poor start. The team lost its first wicket for just 8 runs. Opener Emilio Gay was out for zero here. He faced 5 balls but could not score any runs. Gay was caught by Will O’Rourke in the hands of wicketkeeper Tom Blundell. Duckett completed his century in 88 balls
After losing the first wicket early, 31-year-old opener Ben Duckett took charge. He completed his 7th Test century in just 88 balls on his home ground. This was the second-fastest century for England in Test cricket. Before this, Duckett had scored an even faster century against India in the Rajkot Test in 2024. Duckett got a life at a score of eight runs, which he fully capitalised on. Finally, Nathan Smith bowled him out, ending his innings. Duckett played a quickfire innings of 113 runs off 98 balls. He hit 18 fours. Bethell and Root steadied the innings
After Duckett’s dismissal, Jacob Bethell batted cautiously and scored an unbeaten 74 runs. Experienced batsman Joe Root is present at the crease with him, scoring 21 runs. Duckett and Bethell made an important partnership of 179 runs for the second wicket. Fast bowler Blair Tickner had returned to the field after being hit on the helmet by Jofra Archer’s ball while batting, but later complained of nausea. He had to be withdrawn from the match due to a concussion (head injury). Jack Foulds was included in the team in his place.