Test tantalisingly poised

LONDON, AUG 21: Mike Atherton was unbeaten on 44 today as England reached 91 for two at stumps on the third day and moved to within 155 r...

LONDON, AUG 21: Mike Atherton was unbeaten on 44 today as England reached 91 for two at stumps on the third day and moved to within 155 runs of winning the fourth Test at The Oval and clinching the series. The former England skipper scored a flurry of runs late in the evening session to put the home team back in command of the decider after it was set a 246-run target to win.

Graham Thorpe, who shared a 46-run partnership with Atherton, was batting on 28 at stumps and England had eight wickets in hand and two days to score the required runs. The match hung in the balance for the entire day as 15 wickets — the Kiwis were skittled for 162 — tumbled in three sessions.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings) 236
England (1st innings; overnight 150-7): Atherton c Fleming b Nash 10, Maddy b Vettori 14, Hussain c Bell b Cairns 40, Thorpe c Fleming b Cairns 10, Stewart b Vettori 11, Ramprakash c Parore b Cairns 30, Irani lbw Cairns 1, Caddick b O’Connor 15, Mullally c Bell b Vettori 5,Tufnell not out 0, Giddins lbw Cairns 0; Extras: (b1, lb5, w5 nb6) 17. Total: (all out in 80 overs) 153
Fall of wkts: 1-25, 2-29, 3-46, 4-87, 5-91, 6-94, 7-141, 8-153, 9-153
Bowling: Cairns 19-8-31-5, Nash 14-5-40-1, O’Connor 13-3-30-1, Vettori 33-12-46-3, Astle 1-1-0-0
New Zealand (2nd innings): Horne lbw Giddins 10, Bell c Irani b Caddick 4, Fleming c Thorpe b Caddick 4, Astle c Irani b Giddins 5, Twose c Stewart b Giddins 0, McMillan lbw Mullally 26, Parore b Caddick 1, Cairns c&b Mullally 80, Nash not out 10, Vettori c Ramprakash b Tufnell 6, O’Connor b Tufnell 6; Extras: (lb4, w1, nb5) 10. Total: (all out in 54 overs) 162
Fall of wkts: 1-15, 2-15, 3-22, 4-22, 5-37, 6-39,7-79, 8-149, 9-156
Bowling: Caddick 17-4-35-3, Mullally 11-2-27-2, Giddins 10-3-38-3, Tufnell 16-3-58-2
England (2nd innings): Atherton batting 44, Darren Maddy c Fleming b Nash 5, Hussain c Parore b O’Connor 9, Graham Thorpe batting 28; Extras:(b2, nb3) 5. Total: (for 2 wkts, 27 overs) 91
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-45
Bowling: Cairns 8-2-35-0, Nash 6-1-10-1, O’Connor 5-1-22-1, Vettori 8-3-22-0.