Gus Atkinson claimed a superb hat-trick to hand England complete command of the second Test against New Zealand and join one of the game’s most prestigious clubs.
The Surrey seamer took out tailenders Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee with three successive deliveries on the second morning in Wellington, the 15th time an English bowler has achieved the feat in Test cricket.
Atkinson turned the heat on the Black Caps in his fifth over of the day, racking up three different modes of dismissal to end their innings on 125 and hand the tourists a lead of 155.
By lunch England had stretched that to 237, an off-form Zak Crawley their only casualty as Ben Duckett (39no) and Jacob Bethell (34no) piled on the runs.
But the man of the moment was Atkinson, who continued a stellar first year in the Test arena taking 47 wickets in 10 appearances as well as making his maiden century. The 26-year-old’s magical sequence started when he uprooted Smith’s middle stump with the third ball of his over and continued when he had Henry backing away from a short ball that he fended to Duckett at gully.
Last man Southee stood between Atkinson and a place in the history books but he had no answer as the ball tailed in full and straight, smashing his front pad dead in front of middle stump.
Southee reviewed the lbw decision in hope more than expectation but England’s celebrations were already well under way. Rod Tucker raised his finger for a second time to seal the deal, with Atkinson registering the 50th Test hat-trick in world cricket – 47 in the men’s game and three in the women’s.
The last player to get one was South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in 2021, with Moeen Ali the most recent to do so for England, against the Proteas at the Oval in 2017.
Stuart Broad took two in his career, making Atkinson the 14th England player on the list. Brydon Carse had earlier dismissed Tom Blundell and Will O’Rourke in the space of three deliveries as New Zealand lost their last five batters for 39.
Crawley hit the first two balls of England’s second innings for four but was unable to feed off the feelgood factor for long. He fell to Henry for the fourth time in a row, hitting him to mid-wicket to leave him with 26 runs from four attempts on tour.
Bethell and Duckett took took the fight to the home attack, sharing seven boundaries and three sixes as the session ended with England rampant. Duckett survived a couple of edges along the way, Blundell grassing one and seeing the other sail over his head, as New Zealand’s luck deserted them.