Jack Leach: Harry Brook could not stop smiling after claiming key wicket

England were visibly wilting on the fourth evening of their series-deciding second Test against the Black Caps, who responded to the challenge of following on by reaching a concerning 455 for five in Wellington.

With bodies aching after an epic spell in the field and Ben Stokes™ knee issues meaning England were effectively a bowler down, Brook received the call to try out his very occasional medium-pacers.

Seeing the rising batting star turn his arm over was not even ˜plan B™ for England, who had already sent down 200 overs between both New Zealand innings, but the 24-year-old Yorkshireman made a remarkable impact.

Bowling at a gentle speed of just over 65mph he dragged one down the leg side, feathering Williamson™s bat on the way through to the alert Ben Foakes and ending an immaculate innings of 132 and a crucial stand of 158 with Tom Blundell.

That was the first of five wickets to tumble for just 28 runs as New Zealand set England a target of 258 - a chase they will resume on the final morning at 48 for one.

œHe™s really happy and we™re all very happy for him, he just couldn™t stop smiling, said Leach, who toiled away for 61.3 overs for a five-wicket haul.

œHe said he did Kane with the bouncer first, so he wasn™t quite forward to it. He reckons it was all on purpose. We just wanted to try something different. At times in cricket you think ˜let™s do something they might not be expecting™. That™s what we gave them and it worked.

Joe Root said after the first Test in Mount Maunganui that Brook had bowled him out in the Headingley nets as a 14-year-old, bowling œfilthy seamers off the wrong foot and had not let him forget it.

Asked if he had been lobbying for a chance behind the scenes, Leach added: œI don™t think so, no. But he will be now.

Williamson, who started the day by overtaking former team-mate Ross Taylor as New Zealand™s record run-scorer in Test cricket, admitted he was not even sure what Brook bowled when he came on.

œNo, I didn™t. It™s one of those things¦that™s cricket, he said.

œIt™s frustrating obviously, but he didn™t miss his length - he was immaculate. I was just trying to focus and respect it - you don™t want to get lazy. He was on point and that was maybe the worst ball he bowled.

œHe™s had a fantastic career to date, mainly with the bat, but he™s a special player.

Leach gave an insight into the England dressing room at the tea break, when the prospects of becoming just the fourth team in history to lose after enforcing the follow-on were at their highest.

œStokesy just said ˜give everything you have got™, but he put it a lot better than that, the spinner said.

œSometimes you have to keep going, give that bit more and enjoy the graft rather than worry about things not happening. That was the message - enjoy being out there, you are playing for England and trying to win a Test match.

Both teams reached stumps believing there was a game to be won.

œWe™re very confident we can chase it down. We know how we want to go about our chases. It is a case of us sticking to our process and trusting that will work.

Williamson added: œIt™s all to play for and it™s always exciting when all three results are on the table. We have the ball in hand now and an opportunity in front of us.