Follow UsOn Day 4 of the second Test between England and New Zealand, the visitors collapsed to 224-7 to give England a chance to chase a dramatic series victory. The Kiwis lost five wickets for 110 in a tense evening session at Trent Bridge and head into the final day with a lead of 238. With three wickets left, New Zealand face a difficult period on Tuesday morning as they try to bat their way to safety.
And England wicket-keeper Ben Fokaes is quite optimistic that their side can chase things down with some really aggressive players like Ben Stokes in the line-up.
"I think as little as possible," conceded Ben Foakes, when asked about a potential target. "Realistically how fast it's been scoring, under 300 you'd say would be quite doable if you bat really well. Some of the guys we've got in the dressing room, guys like Stokesy, it could be anything really. You have no idea really if he gets in.
"So much has happened this afternoon that now all three results are in play. It should be one hell of a day," he added.
Michael Bracewell's brief flurry of boundaries ended when he miscued to Broad off Potts for 25. New Zealand were imploding and Southee's dismissal was emblematic of their collapse as he was run out following a mix-up with Daryll Mitchell. The side could never recover from the same but Bracewell admitted that he planned to play positive brand of cricket which helped the Kiwis get a move on.
"We try to play positively as a side and ultimately try to win games of Test cricket," said Michael Bracewell, who had struck a 17-ball 25 to get things moving after a period of lull. "The plan was to get out there and be super positive. I managed to get a couple out of the middle but unfortunately, I couldn't push on to a bigger score.
"The draw sort of comes out of it at the end if the win is not possible, rather than the other way round. We're willing to win a Test series against England. You want to secure as many WTC points as possible. We ultimately want to win games of cricket and if that comes tomorrow where we have to bowl a little bit more negatively towards the end of the day, we'll play that way. But yeah, we're always aiming to win games of cricket."