Nottingham is known for its bowling-friendly conditions during the early stages of the game, England elected to bowl first. However, the English seamers were unable to keep the New Zealanders at bay.
Kane Williamson, captain of New Zealand, will miss the second England Test in Nottingham after testing positive for COVID-19 the night before.
In his absence, Tom Latham will captain the team, while Hamish Rutherford has been added to the squad for the second Test.
It remains to be seen whether he replaces Williamson after joining the team. In addition, Colin de Grandhomme has been ruled out of the series due to a heel injury, forcing the visitors to make a forced change.
Ben Stokes and James Anderson helped England put an end to promising innings with timely strikes, but New Zealand scored steadily throughout the day, and a big partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, as well as dropped catches, left the England bowlers disappointed.
The visitors to Trent Bridge, Nottingham, finished the first day of the second Test with a commanding lead of 318/4.
When Mitchell and Blundell joined forces, the Kiwis were 169/4 and went on to post a 149-run stand. The New Zealand openers’ 84-run partnership was a solid foundation for the rest of the team.
Between them, Will Young and Tom Latham hit 15 boundaries in an energetic opening stand that kept England from making significant progress in the first session.
The New Zealand openers were able to keep the England bowlers at bay for the first hour without much swing or movement off the pitch.
For all of Anderson’s three maidens in his initial six-over spell, both Broad and Potts leaked boundaries while Young and Latham did not waste scoring chances.
When Stokes came on, he was hit for boundaries and overstepped twice in the second hour of the game. He did, however, provide a crucial wicket by dismissing Young for 33 runs short of his fifty-over target.
Anderson removed Latham in the next over when he pulled a direct hit to mid-wicket for a duck. After the lunch break, Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls both continued New Zealand’s positive approach.
In spite of the occasional scares from the bowlers, Conway and Nicholls were able to keep up a good scoring rate with regular boundaries.
It was a stroke of luck for Nicholls, who was safely out of trouble thanks to a fielding error by Crawley, while Conway was nearly caught at short mid-wicket by Potts off Anderson after the third umpire ruled that the ball had pitched prior to reaching the fielder.
When Stokes got Nicholls out, the third-wicket pair had reached 77 before he broke the partnership once more. Conway was caught behind off an inside edge by Anderson in the second inning of the second set.
Stokes could have taken another wicket, but Joe Root at first slip caught an outside edge that he induced off Mitchell’s bat.
As the No. 5 hitter, Leach struck regular boundaries and even a six that landed inside a spectator’s glass of pint, making England pay for the miss.
However, Blundell, on the other hand, used a more measured approach while also making the most of opportunities that came his way, working well with Mitchell to help New Zealand overcome the rapid dismissals.
Unfortunately for Leach, he didn’t get the chance to retire either of the opposing batters. During the final session, Mitchell received a slap on the pads from the umpire, but England did not bother to appeal.
When England referred Blundell for a leg-before appeal an hour after tea, replays showed that it was an umpire’s call.
To bring up the century stand, Mitchell top-edged a six off Broad over fine leg and was also struck on his helmet in the same over after reaching fifty.
After Mitchell attempted a reverse sweep on Root, replays confirmed that neither a bat nor a glove was involved. England was denied a review.
In the same over that England had another review thrown out, Blundell struck two fours off Leach to reach his half-century.
The poor performance of England on the field was summed up when Crawley and Jonny Bairstow were just hoping the other would go for the catch when Broad found the outside edge of Blundell’s bat with the second new ball, as the hosts endured a wicketless final session.
This moment encapsulated England’s day on the field.
New Zealand 318/4 vs England (Mitchell 81*, Blundell 67*; James Anderson 2-42, Ben Stokes 2-40) at the end of day 1
