England staged a mini fightback deep into an otherwise demoralising, draining first day of the series deciding third Test against New Zealand at a scorching Trent Bridge.
Tom Latham (151) and Devon Conway (157) had seemingly batted England into submission with a record 317-run opening partnership against their hosts, only for four wickets to fall in little more than an hour to see the Black Caps reduced to 361-4 by stumps.
Ben Stokes, back as captain after he and Gus Atkinson served a one-match suspension, provided the breakthrough as Latham – dropped on 129 by Jamie Smith – was this time snapped up by the wicketkeeper, while Conway followed his partner back to the pavilion an over later as he perished in the deep off Joe Root (1-7).
Atkinson (1-62) and Jofra Archer (1-53) then took two wickets in two balls to end the day’s play as Rachin Ravindra (7) perished to a top-edged hack across the line and Henry Nicholls (36) nicked off.
More to follow…
England vs New Zealand – results and schedule
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