England spinner Jack Leach is confident of his team chasing down the required 210 runs on day 5 of the second Test against New Zealand to win the series 2-0. By the end of the day’s play England had scored 48/1 in 11 overs needing another 210 runs to win.
New Zealand came up with a better batting approach in the second innings. Led by Kane Williamson’s 132, they posted 483 in the second innings after being asked to follow on by England. Along with him, Tom Latham (83), Devon Conway (61) and Tom Blundell (90), and Daryl Mitchell (54) came up with crucial contributions.
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Jack Leach had different fortunes in the two innings of the Test match with the ball. He picked up 3 for 80 in 17 overs in the first innings. Meanwhile, he had to toil for 61 overs to pick up a fifer in the second innings. Overall, he took 8 wickets in the Test match but not before he was exhausted after bowling almost 80 overs in the match.
Bowling In The Second Innings Felt A Lot Harder: Jack Leach
Leach’s spell of 61.3 overs was the second-most overs he ever bowled in one Test match innings after bowling 69.5 overs against West Indies at Bridgetown in March 2022.
“Thinking back to Barbados, that [second innings in Wellington] felt a lot harder. Out here it has taught me a lot about how to get what you want out of a pitch, you have to work extremely hard. That is something I will massively take forward into the future. Sixty overs out there felt a lot harder than 69 in Barbados” Leach said after the end of the day’s play to BBC Sport.
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We Know How We Want To About Our Chases: Jack Leach
He sounded very confident about getting the required 210 runs in the fifth and final day of the Test match. He also said that he was pleased with the way he bowled in the Test match.
Pleased with how I kept going. Not pleased with a lot of things as well but just happy we have a chance to win the game tomorrow. We’re very confident to chase it down. We know how we want to go about our chases. It is a case of us sticking to our process, trusting that will work. It will be an exciting day.” said Leach.
The England spinner admitted that his team’s had plans to finish the game within three days and that the fourth innings chase was not given a thought about.
“Well, yeah, obviously – you’re always trying to win as quickly as you can. But that’s not always going to be the case” Leach concluded saying to BBC Sport.
