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England toil as duo put New Zealand in full control

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date11 June 2022
A New Zealand side robbed of captain Kane Williamson, who tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve of the match, were sent in by Ben Stokes and responded by racking up a formidable 318 for four

First Test centurion Daryl Mitchell was once again the pick of the bunch with 81 not out, sharing his second big partnership with Tom Blundell (67no) as the pair piled on an unbroken 149 by stumps.

But England must look at themselves too. Despite two wickets apiece for Stokes and James Anderson, the bowling looked lethargic in the morning and weary by the evening, with 43 boundaries and two sixes shining a light on their persistent lack of precision - but the fielding also came up short.

England's catching had been near flawless at Lord's but here four chances went begging in the cordon. Zak Crawley was the guilty party twice, diving across first slip to put down Henry Nicholls and later making the opposite mistake as he and Jonny Bairstow both left a Blundell edge for each other.

Joe Root was responsible for the costliest error, shelling Mitchell when he had just three runs, and also got a hand to another fiercely difficult chance.

With a tinge of green on the pitch both teams had planned on bowling first, but there was no real terror in the air as the new ball refused to swing. Anderson managed the lack of movement in a reliably steady initial burst but Stuart Broad could not find a rhythm at his home ground and Matthew Potts was unable to recreate the wicket-taking impact of his debut appearance.

Tom Latham and Will Young gratefully picked off the...

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