Familiar partnership makes England attack toil at Trent Bridge

MATCH CENTRE

***Toss:*England captain Ben Stokes elected to bowl first. 31-year-old Michael Bracewell made his Test debut for New Zealand

***Scores:*1st innings: NZ – 318/4

Kane Williamson misses out

On the eve of the second Test in Nottingham, New Zealand suffered a big blow. Their regular captain Kane Williamson tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing minor symptoms during the day.

With five days of mandatory isolation recommended, Tom Latham will be leading the side in Williamson's absence.

A strong start for New Zealand

The Black Caps openers had a forgettable first Test and needed a turn around in the second. Neutralising the threat of England's fast bowlers on the morning of the first day, both Will Young and Tom Latham began confidently. They did not take long to settle and milked boundaries with ease.

There was not much help on offer for the bowlers and the batters capitalised on it. The first hour passed away without England doing no damage and the openers extended their partnership past 50. The breakthrough finally came in the 21st over with Young on 47. He was denied his half-century as Zak Crawley took a superb low catch in the second slip off Stokes. One brought two with Latham falling on the next ball to Anderson.

Despite the two quick wickets, New Zealand recovered with Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls following their predecessors' footsteps as the duo kept up the scoring rate with some beautiful shots.

As many as 20 boundaries were scored in the first session with New Zealand on 108/2 at the end of it.

Honours even heading into the evening

Post the lunch interval, New Zealand's third-wicket pair of Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls looked to continue with the positive intent that saw the visitors score at a rate of 4.15 runs an over in the morning session.

With a pair of twin Conway boundaries inside the first over post the lunch break, New Zealand looked set to continue their assault on the hosts' bowling attack.

As the third wicket partnership crossed the fifty threshold, England's bowlers continued to test the pair, with a couple of chances falling narrowly short before their hard work finally paid off.

In the space of just a few overs, England's bowlers fought back with both set batters Nicholls (30) and Conway (46) caught behind off the bowling of Stokes and Anderson respectively, leaving two fresh Blackcaps batters at the crease.

However, England's afternoon could have been significantly better as Daryl Mitchell was dropped at first slip early in his innings.

Intent on preserving their wickets, New Zealand's batters guided the visitors to tea without any further losses with the score 195/4.

Fifth-wicket pair put England to the sword, again!

Heading into the evening session, the Test was firmly hanging in the balance as both sides desperately sought to stamp their authority on the match.

At the crease, the pair of Mitchell and Blundell looked to rekindle their excellent partnership from the Lord's Test. Mitchell going on the assault whilst his partner Blundell adopted a more watchful approach.

As the session progressed with little sign of an England breakthrough, the pair continued to stockpile runs with both batters crossing the fifty mark in quick succession of each other.

England toiling to make a breakthrough, their hunt turned to desperation as two decisions were turned down upon further inspection, leaving the hosts with just the one review for the remainder of the innings.

With the close of play on the horizon, England might have escaped the day with an added boost. Stuart Broad's delivery found the outside edge of Mitchell's bat and perfectly dissected the slip cordon, much to the annoyance of the veteran seamer.

After day one, New Zealand find themselves firmly in the ascendancy with the score 318/4. England head into the second day requiring some early inroads to stay in the match.

Stat Attack: James Anderson is just two wickets away from reaching 650 scalps in Test cricket.