England take big lead in Wellington after Atkinson hat-trick

Gus Atkinson took a hat-trick as England coasted towards a dominant victory in the second test against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday, reaching 378 for five at the close of play on day two with an imposing lead of 533.

Most of the England batters thrived at Basin Reserve, with Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett, who put on 187 for the second wicket, both falling in the 90s and first-innings centurion Harry Brook bagging a half century before departing for 55.

Ollie Pope exited for 10 in the last hour and captain Ben Stokes, who had decided against a declaration, came in to post a quickfire 35 alongside Joe Root, who gathered his 100th career half-century on his way to an unbeaten 73 at stumps.

Atkinson (4-31) and Brydon Carse (4-46) earlier lit up the morning with some fine seam bowling to dismiss New Zealand for 125 and put England, who won the first test by eight wickets, on course for a first series triumph in New Zealand since 2008.

"The plan was to go hard at them this morning, myself and Carsey, and it worked out pretty well. Then the boys batted well and now we’ve got a healthy lead," said Atkinson.

"I don't know what the plan is for tomorrow, to be honest. We’ll assess conditions and go from there."

The hosts started the day on 86-5 in reply to England's 280 and Carse quickly deepened their plight by sending back Tom Blundell for 16 and nighwatchman Will O'Rourke for a duck in one over.

Atkinson took over from the other end to mop up the tail in three deliveries, first removing Nathan Smith for 14 from an unfortunate inside edge.

Matt Henry reared up to a fizzing bouncer and diverted it to Duckett at gully for a golden duck on the next delivery before Tim Southee was trapped plum in front.

It was the 47th hat-trick in 147 years of test cricket, the first since 2021 and the first by an England bowler since spinner Moeen Ali achieved the feat against South Africa at the Oval in 2017.

"To get a hat-trick ends the year nicely," said Atkinson, who took a 12-wicket haul on his test debut against West Indies in July and scored a century against Sri Lanka in August.

After the cheap loss of opener Zak Crawley, Duckett and Bethell showed the scoring intent that has typified England's approach under their New Zealander coach Brendon McCullum.

Bethell illustrated why the selectors took a gamble on him for this series with some fine shot-making and was approaching his maiden first class hundred in his second test when he was caught behind off a thick edge for 96.

Veteran quick Southee returned four overs later to also ruin Duckett's day, bowling the 30-year-old for 92 off the bottom of his bat.

New Zealand's bowlers otherwise toiled in vain, which explained the unbridled celebrations when Brook attacked the spin of Glenn Phillips only to hole out to Will O'Rourke at long off.

"He's a pretty darn good player," said Phillips. "Obviously, we gave him enough chances in Christchurch but the way he's played here has been another level, top tier on something that was tricky to bat on."