Ben Duckett Helps England Fight Back Against New Zealand in Rothesay Series Decider at Trent Bridge

Ben Duckett helped England fight back in the Rothesay Series decider against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, reaching 113 off 99 balls as England moved to 223 for two in response to the Black Caps’ 438.

“After scoring his first Test century for more than a year Ben Duckett revealed that shedding some weight has helped him to pile on the runs, with a post-winter fitness regime catapulting him into the summer in form that was glimpsed in the first two games of the series and has been obvious in the third”

AOL

Duckett ended a run of 22 innings without a three-figure Test score after being dropped on eight by Henry Nicholls, and he said, “It was incredible,” as he reached his ton off 88 balls.

AOL

England captain Ben Stokes led the initial fightback on Friday morning, taking three for 13 in eight overs to move to 250 Test scalps, and the BBC described the innings as a return to his best.

The Hindustan Times reported that England were 223-2 at stumps on Friday’s second day, 215 runs behind New Zealand’s first-innings 438, with the series level at 1-1.

Duckett’s innings came after a missed chance at third slip, with the Lancashire Telegraph saying he was dropped on eight by Henry Nicholls, while the Hindustan Times noted that Duckett edged Nathan Smith and “Henry Nicholls to drop a seemingly routine chance at third slip.”

Duckett framed the comeback through Stokes’s leadership, telling the Lancashire Telegraph, “When Stokesy does that it’s pretty impossible for everyone else not to get on his back and do the same.”

BBC

The BBC linked Duckett’s turnaround to fitness work since the winter, quoting him: “I’ve certainly been doing a lot of fitness work since I got back from the winter,” as he worked with England fitness coach Pete Sim and Nottinghamshire counterpart Zak Bess.

The Hindustan Times also credited Stokes’s bowling burst, describing how the Black Caps lost their last eight wickets for 77 runs after being seemingly set for a total in excess of 500 at 361-2.

The BBC said Duckett had to wait more than 12 months for his next Test century after an Ashes average of 20 and a run of 14 Test innings without a half-century, and it tied the recovery to losing “five or six” kilograms.

“Ben Duckett runs riot against New Zealand in series decider after Ben Stokes helps England stage comeback Ben Duckett smashed his seventh Test century on Day 2 of the third and final Test against New Zealand”

Hindustan Times

Duckett told the Lancashire Telegraph that he had lost five to six kilogrammes since his return to Nottinghamshire and now felt vindicated following his seventh Test century, his first since a match-winning 149 against India at Headingley 12 months ago.

The AOL report added that Duckett lost about 6kg (13lb) after returning from his winter international commitments and adopting a new fitness regime, and it quoted him saying, “You don’t get many windows where you can go and lose the amount of weight I lost.”

With the series level at 1-1 and New Zealand having slipped from 317 without loss to 438 all out, Daryl Mitchell said England still had a lead and that “Test cricket’s about five days, not just one or two, and we’ll be giving it everything we can to be there on that day five.”