Gus Atkinson claimed a superb hat-trick as England took the lead in the second Test against New Zealand, demolishing the home side’s back in style.
The Surrey seamer knocked out Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee three times in a row. This marks the 15th time an England bowler has achieved the feat in Test cricket.
Atkinson turned the heat on the Black Caps in the ninth over, using three different modes of dismissal to end the innings on 125 and give the tourists a 155 lead.
Atkinson finished with figures of 4-31 from 8.5 overs.
The 26-year-old picked out Smith’s mid-stump with the third ball of the over and then played a short ball defended by Ben Duckett in the gully for Henry to turn back.
Tim Southee, the last man standing, stood between Atkinson and a place in the history books but had no answer as the ball flew full and straight and smashed into his front pad in front of middle stump.
Southee looked at the lbw decision with more hope than expected, but England’s celebrations were already well underway. Rod Tucker sealed the deal by raising his finger for the second time and Atkinson recorded his 50th Test hat-trick in world cricket. This was 47 times in the men’s game and 3 times in the women’s game.
The most recent acquisition was Keshav Maharaj for South Africa in 2021, while Moeen Ali was most recently acquired 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. Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom are the only England players to have taken a Test hat-trick this century.
