Depleted New Zealand look to level series against England

New Zealand will target a strong comeback in the second of the threeTest series when the game commences at Trent Bridge later on Friday with the tourists hoping to erase the 01 deficit and take the series to the deciderEngland under new skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum got off to a positive start despite early wobbles with veteran batter Joe Root providing solidity with the bat in the second innings scoring a fine unbeaten century to guide the hosts to a fivewicket victoryBoth New Zealand and England are currently ranked No7 and 8 on the ICC World Test Championship 20212023 standings with their chances of making it to the final looking bleakBoth the teams were dealt blows during the Lords Test and in the aftermath England lost spinner Jack Leach due to a concussion resulting in his withdrawal from the Test and that gave an opportunity to legspinner Matt Parkinson who came in as his replacement to make his Test debut for the sideHowever Leach has retained his spot after making a recovery as England confirmed an unchanged XI for the Trent Bridge contest on the eve of the TestFor New Zealand the blows came in the form of Colin de Grandhomme and captain Kane WilliamsonDe Grandhomme sustained a heel injury while bowling on the third day of the Lords Test and will miss the remainder of the series with Kane Williamson a late withdrawal due to Covid19Also ReadIND vs SA Rishabh Pant admits bowling display was not as plannedNew Zealand are expected to make a few changes to their lineup with Henry Nicholls also expected to feature in the second Test after recovering from a calf injuryThe opening Test at Lords saw plenty of action including batting collapses quicks firing from both ends and standout centurions A total of 35 wickets fell inside the first three days before centurion Joe Root and Ben Foakes took the game away from the reigning ICC World Test championsNew Zealand decided to have a bat first but their stay was cut short after veteran seamer James Anderson and debutant Matthew Potts claimed four wickets apiece to wrap up the visitors innings on 132 in 40 overs with de Grandhomme topscoring with an unbeaten 42In response Englands lineup also crumbled after they were bowled out for 141 managing a thin lead Wickets continued to fall as the visitors lost their top four with their scorecard reading 564 From there Daryl Mitchell 108 and Tom Blundell 96 steadied the ship with a solid stand helping New Zealand to 285England had a target of 277 in front In their second outing with the bat they lost four wickets inside 20 overs It looked like New Zealands game till then but Root changed the script along with skipper Stokes The inform Root starred with a sensational unbeaten 115 while Stokes contributed with a solid 54 and Foakes added 32 not out as England sealed a fivewicket win early on Day 4Its my first game in charge and weve won Its a great start but there are going to be ups and downs and its just about dealing with that Its going to be really important how we operate when things dont go well That is when well really have to show what were about said Stokes ahead of the matchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever