Bethell & Atkinson give England complete control
Second Test, Wellington (day two of five)
England 280 (Brook 123; Smith 4-86) & 378-5 (Bethell 96, Duckett 92)
New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46)
England lead by 533 runs
Jacob Bethell stroked 96 after Gus Atkinson's hat-trick as England took a stranglehold on the second Test against New Zealand after two days in Wellington.
Bethell, the 21-year-old winning his second cap, gave another demonstration of his immense promise in falling four runs short of becoming the youngest England man in 85 years to make a Test hundred.
He added 187 for the second wicket with fellow left-hander Ben Duckett, who made 92, to give England complete dominance over the lacklustre Kiwis.
When Duckett was out, England's lead was 366. Joe Root helped himself to 73 not out, Harry Brook 55 and Ben Stokes clobbered an unbeaten 35 from 26 balls to take the tourists to 378-5 at stumps.
All this after pace bowler Atkinson took the final three New Zealand first-innings wickets in successive deliveries to claim England men's 15th Test hat-trick.
Atkinson had Nathan Smith play on, got Matt Henry fending to gully then trapped Tim Southee stone-dead leg before.
That left New Zealand 125 all out, trailing by 155, a deficit pushed to a massive 533 by the close.
Barring a world-record run chase, England will complete their first Test series victory in this country since 2008.
Super Saturday pushes England close
It was hard to imagine a scenario where the second day in Wellington would come close to matching the chaotic nature of a first that included a stunning Brook century and the fall of 15 wickets.
Yet in the first hour alone, New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 39 runs, Atkinson produced his moment of history and England opener Zak Crawley was once again out to his nemesis Henry.
And while the immediate consequence of England's super Saturday is a significant step towards their first away series victory in two years, perhaps the lasting memory will be another milestone in Bethell's dizzying rise.
Although he narrowly missed out on becoming only the fourth Englishman to make his maiden first-class hundred in a Test, he has given Stokes and Brendon McCullum a decision to make when wicketkeeper Jamie Smith returns from paternity leave.
Bethell's edge behind off Southee just before tea was a deflating moment, leaving the remainder of the day a question of whether England wanted to bowl before the close.
Perhaps mindful of their last visit to this ground, a one-run defeat in 2023, they are leaving nothing to chance. On a pitch showing increasingly uneven bounce, the New Zealand chase is a Hail Mary.
Bright star Bethell
Like his second-innings 50 on debut in Christchurch last week, Bethell's runs came in a relatively low-pressure situation.
Yet his impressive performances will spark debate over whether England have to find a place for him, especially as Crawley continues to struggle. Caught at mid-wicket for eight, Crawley has been out to Henry in all four innings of this series without scoring a run off the seamer.
Bethell is calm, organised and compact. While Duckett attempted all manner of trick shots, Bethell busily pushed the scoring along with elegance and the occasional bit of fortune from edges through the slips.
Savage on anything short, Bethell pulled three sixes. Duckett had two minor let-offs, one on 22 when he tickled Smith down the leg side off the fingertips of wicketkeeper Blundell, then on 33 when he edged a snorter off Southee over the same man.
Bethell played drives on both sides and cuts behind point. Only late on was he tied down. Hit by Will O'Rourke, he flapped at Southee and a top-edge just evaded Henry running back from mid-on.
In the same over, an attempted drive resulted in his downfall. Century missed, Bethell received a rousing ovation from the crowd and a consoling pat on the back from Duckett, who fell short of his own ton by playing on off Southee.
Atkinson continues awesome year
From 86-5 overnight, any hope New Zealand had of getting close to England's first-innings 280 was eviscerated by Brydon Carse and Atkinson.
First Carse bowled Blundell and trapped Will O'Rourke in the same over, then Atkinson added a hat-trick to a stunning debut year that includes a 12-wicket haul at Lord's, and a hundred and five-for in the same match at the same ground.
Atkinson's hat-trick is the first in a Test at the Basin Reserve, the first by an England bowler since Moeen Ali in 2017 and first by an England bowler overseas since Ryan Sidebottom in this country 16 years ago.
A stand of 95 between Root and Brook, rated as the two best batters in the world, was a glorified net session.
Root passed 50 for the 100th time in Test cricket and Brook could have had his third hundred in as many innings had he not holed out to long-off from Glenn Phillips.
After Pope was caught behind off Henry for 10, Stokes arrived in fifth gear. Swiping at every ball, he mullered sixes off Henry and Phillips and is set for more pyrotechnics on Sunday.
