Joe Root celebrates after bringing up his 17th Test hundred

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Captain Joe Root and opener Rory Burns scored 114 not out and 101 respectively to lead England’s fightback against New Zealand on the third day in Hamilton.

Starting off the day on 39/2, Root and Burns converted their 15-run partnership into a 177-run stand, during which Burns brought up his hundred and Root his fifty.

Rory Burns scored his second Test century

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Burns went on to score 101, which came off 209 balls and included 15 boundaries, before he was run out by Jeet Raval.

Ben Stokes mustered 26 runs before he was caught by Ross Taylor at slip off the bowling of Tim Southee.

Debutant Zak Crawley fell shortly after as he was caught behind off the bowling of Neil Wagner for one run.

Root and Ollie Pope managed to add seven runs to the score before rain brought play to an end for the day.

Root finished on 114, which came off 278 balls and included 14 boundaries, while Pope remained undefeated on four.

Southee was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Wagner and Matt Henry claimed one wicket each.

England ended day three on 269/5, which leaves them trailing by 106 runs, and will continue batting on Monday at 10:30 local time or 21:30 GMT (the previous day).