England staring at defeat to New Zealand in third Test match as captain Ben Stokes suffers fresh hamstring injury

There are worries over the fitness of England captain Ben Stokes after he appeared to suffer another injury to his problematic left hamstring against New Zealand on Monday. Compounding that concern is England needing a mammoth fourth innings response of 658 if they are to win the third Test, shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+. The home side were helped by yet another Kane Williamson century.

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Captain Ben Stokes suffered another hamstring injury as England looked set to slump to a heavy defeat to New Zealand on day three of the third Test in Hamilton.

Stokes looked in clear discomfort as he had to leave the field, indicating a problem with his left hamstring. An injury to that same hamstring suffered in August had led to Stokes missing four Tests.

The injury occurred when Stokes was bowling in the afternoon session, pulling up after the second ball of his third over. The 33-year-old talisman did not come back onto the field, and he is expected to have a scan to assess the injury.

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England will take a decision on Stokes’ ability to bat in the second innings, where they will need all their resources available. He had already suffered a problem with his back in the series’ first Test in Christchurch.

England were already in trouble before losing their captain as the dominant Kane Williamson looked in ominous form once more.

The batter scored 156, helped by 44 from Rachin Ravindra and 60 from Daryl Mitchell. A man down from their bowling line-up, New Zealand ended their innings on 453.

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That gave New Zealand a commanding lead of 657, meaning England need to score a world record fourth-innings response for victory.

In the six overs England faced before the end of play on Monday, Ben Duckett dragged on a Tim Southee delivery, and Zak Crawley was out lbw to Matt Henry.

There are two days to come with clear skies forecast, and with England on 18-2, defeat for Stokes’ side looks inevitable, though they have already won the series.

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Thoughts?