England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

17-run over

It cannot get more dramatic than this at the start of a day's play. The first over fetches a wicket and the second over sees Root and Bairstow smash Boult for a couple of boundaries each. The target is below 100 now.

What a start

Play finally got underway and NZ have found the perfect start. Southee with the nip backer has disturbed Pope's stumps. He is gone for 82.

Covers are back

Unfortunately, the covers are back and it looks like early lunch will be taken at 12.30 pm local time. Play will directly get underway at 1.10 pm if there is no further spell of rain.

Update

Play to resume at 12 noon local time if there is no further rain.

Delayed start

Ok so the start is delayed here on the final day as a result of rain. The surface and the square are still under the covers. The forecast is clear later on so England wouldn't worry much for now.

Build up

By all means, this Test match has only one conclusion. England are prime favourites to make it 3-0 in a matter of few hours. New Zealand did really well to set England a target of 296 after Mitchell and Blundell defied them for the fourth time in six innings. But once again England's aggressive approach with the bat resulted in New Zealand getting absolutely slaughtered by the end of the day's play yesterday.

The approach has even caught up with Joe Root who hit an audacious reverse sweep against Neil Wagner. He brought up his 54th Test century and Ollie Pope is actually closing in on a hundred. England need only 113 more runs. They have this duo out in the middle to get it done. They also have the likes of Bairstow and Stokes to follow. You will be in for a surprise if this doesn't end 3-0. Welcome to the live blog for the final day of this series.