New Zealand seamer Tim Southee received a guard of honour from the whole England team when he walked out to bat for one final time in Test cricket. It was an emotional moment for the legendary New Zealand cricketer as he walked into a round of applause at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
Southee walked in to bat after the fall of Mitchell Santner, who was dismissed by Jacob Bethell. As he arrived at the crease, the whole England team gathered to give him the guard of honour. Southee shook hands with England’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper Ollie Pope before going to bat.
Guard of Honour by the England team as Tim Southee comes on to bat for the final time in Test cricket. What a moment ❤️❤️❤️#NZvENG #tapmad #DontStopStreaming #CatchEveryMatch pic.twitter.com/FAXJv36FGL
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 16, 2024
Watch: Tim Southee receives a guard of honour from England team
Tim Southee walks out to bat for the final time in Test cricket to a guard of honour 🥹 pic.twitter.com/BmVRxa72g1
— England’s Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) December 16, 2024
However, Southee didn’t have a great last innings and was dismissed for just 2 runs off 6 balls. He got out in his usual way of trying to attack the bowling. Southee tried to go big to the left-arm spinner Bethell but got a toe edge of his bat.
Zak Crawley, who was stationed at long-on, didn’t make any mistake and pouched it easily in the end. The NZ legend walked out of the ground with the bat in his hand for one final time in Tests and thus, received huge cheers from the Hamilton crowd.
Tim Southee finishes on 98 sixes in Tests
Tim Southee finished with 98 sixes in Test cricket and is now equal with Chris Gayle. He is currently fourth on the list of most sixes in Tests. England’s current captain Ben Stokes leads the list. England’s current head coach is second on the list while Australia’s Adam Gilchrist sits third.
While Southee failed to score much in this innings, he was impressive in the first innings of the Test. Southee smashed three sixes on his way to a quickfire 23 off just 10 balls. His innings thoroughly entertained the crowd.
Tim Southee rocks England early
He didn’t get any wickets with the ball in England’s first innings and finished with 0-46 in 11 overs. Southee started his final Test innings with the ball perfectly by removing England’s opener Ben Duckett early.
Duckett tried to come down the track but instead got an inside edge onto the top of his off stump. England lost another wicket by the end of the day’s play as they finished on 18-2 at stumps on Day 3 in their pursuit of a massive target of 658 runs.
England are already 2-0 up and have the series in their bag. New Zealand have performed well in this match with key contributions coming from their senior players.
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