ENG Vs NZ: England fight back on Day One against New Zealand

England captain Ben Stokes celebrates a wicket. Pic/AFP

England pegged back free-scoring New Zealand on the opening day of the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday, with the visitors reaching 195-4 at the tea interval.

The Kiwis, without Covid-hit captain Kane Williamson, were motoring along at 161-2 at one stage, but England struck twice to remove Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway. Daryl Mitchell was 20 not out at the break, with Tom Blundell unbeaten on seven, but the visitors will be frustrated that none of their batsmen capitalised on good starts.

Also Read: Rishabh Pant should be used as floater: Ricky Ponting

World Test champions New Zealand, who lost a gripping first Test at Lord's, were put in to bat under cloudy skies in Nottingham by home captain Ben Stokes. But they took advantage of some wayward bowling on a pitch lacking venom, with Tom Latham and Will Young putting on 84 for the first wicket at roughly four an over. Seamer Stokes dragged England back into it when he dismissed Young for 47 and the very next ball, stand-in skipper Latham fell to James Anderson for 26.

Despite those setbacks, New Zealand stayed positive, continuing to find the boundaries regularly as Conway and Nicholls reached the interval with no further losses. The two players came out after lunch with a similar positive mindset, Conway hitting Stuart Broad for fours in consecutive deliveries.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever