England vs New Zealand 3rd Test Day 5 Live Score Updates: Start Of Day 5 Delayed Due To Rain

Day 5 of the ongoing third Test between England and New Zealand has been delayed due to rain. Earlier, brilliant half-centuries from Ollie Pope and Joe Root put England well on their way to a 3-0 series whitewash over the visiting New Zealanders. At stumps on Day 4, Pope was unbeaten on 81 and Root 55 not out with England needing 113 more runs to win the third and final Test at Headingley and complete a series sweep. Going into Day 5, New Zealand will be praying for a miracle with the English firmly in control. England will be firm favourites to wrap up a 3-0 series success over Test world champions New Zealand after chasing down stiff targets of 277 and 299 in five-wicket wins at Lord's and Trent Bridge respectively. (LIVE SCORECARD)

UPDATE 03:45 PM IST (10:15 AM GMT) - The news gets even better now! We are all set to start at 04:30 PM IST (11:00 AM GMT) if no further rain! The players are out warming up.

UPDATE 03:30 PM IST (10:00 AM GMT) - Well, it is has brightened up quite a bit! The super-shoppers are doing its bit. The umpires too are having a look. The rain was pretty heavy earlier on so the clean up may take sometime.

UPDATE 03:20 PM IST (09:50 AM GMT) - Not the best of news to begin with folks! The pitch is under cover and THE START IS DELAYED. The forecast is really good though for the rest of the day. Fingers crossed.

The equation is quite simple, England need another 113 runs to complete the whitewash whereas, New Zealand need to pick the remaining 8 wickets if they are to avoid. A result seems quite sure unless weather plays a part. The forecast is fine though so a draw is the most unlikeliest result. The likeliest on the hand is an England win, they are heavy favourites at the moment to win this game. The