By

Cricket Correspondent at Trent Bridge

Third Rothesay Test, Trent Bridge (day one of five)

New Zealand 361-4: Conway 157, Latham 151

England: Yet to bat

New Zealand won the toss

Scorecard

England took two late wickets to hang in their decider against New Zealand on a brutal opening day of the third Test.

Openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway each made big hundreds in a partnership of 317.

But after New Zealand's highest stand for any wicket against England ended, Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer removed Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls respectively with the final two balls of the day to leave the Black Caps 361-4.

On his return to leading England, captain Ben Stokes lost a vital toss in the extreme heat of Trent Bridge, and the Black Caps cashed in on the flattest of flat pitches.

Captain Latham and fellow left-hander Conway were superb and England's bowlers did little wrong, but the home side were made to pay for missing the chances that came their way.

On 71, Conway looked to have defended the off-spin of Shoaib Bashir. Replays showed the ball hit his front pad first and would have gone on to hit the stumps, yet England did not appeal.

Worse was to come. Latham, who edged through a vacant third slip on eight, had 129 and went for a pull at Atkinson. It was a simple chance down the leg side and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith barely got a glove on it.

Stokes, back after the nightclub controversy that caused him to miss the second Test, eventually got Latham to feather behind on 151, then Conway was caught at long-on off Joe Root for 157.

The late wickets were a huge bonus for England, celebrated with delight. Ravindra needlessly skied Atkinson and Nicholls edged Archer, keeping the home side in the contest.

Good signs for England test of character

Following the chaos of the past fortnight and a run of two wins in their previous nine Tests, Stokes said before this match his team are under the "highest pressure" of his time in charge.

England have to win - or at least draw - to prevent leadership positions again coming under scrutiny.

They are up against a weakened New Zealand team. Kyle Jamieson has been rested and Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips are both missing through injury.

Yes, the toss was important and the conditions stifling, but England once again missed priceless opportunities.

There is hope. The surface should remain good for batting when England finally get their chance and three times in the past four years England have won Tests despite the opposition totalling in excess of 500 in their first innings.

The first of those three matches came on this ground against New Zealand in 2022, when Jonny Bairstow's astonishing assault was the birth of Bazball.

That was a different time, when optimism abounded at the beginning of the Stokes era.

After all that has happened on and off the field, has this England team got the same stomach for the fight? The late wickets hint at a spirit still intact.

Missed chances before England finally strike

Despite the scoreline, England did not bowl badly. In the oppressive heat, the hosts battled hard on a surface where any small stray in length or length was punished by the batters.

In conditions so heavily weighted towards the batters, England's missed chances were costly, the first when Latham edged Archer through a third-slip position that had just been moved.

There is mitigation for the lbw Bashir did not appeal for against Conway. On first look, the ball seemed to have hit the bat first. England had also just burned a speculative review against Latham.

Smith's drop was a howler. As England belatedly went to a short-ball plan, Latham followed Atkinson down the leg side and the wicketkeeper let the ball through his gloves.

Stokes had earlier received a rousing reception when he came into the attack in the morning session. He bowled with energy all day, finally getting Latham to cut through to Smith.

In the next over, Root's second, a tired Conway hacked to sub fielder Matthew Fisher.

New Zealand looked like batting through the rest of the day unscathed, only for England's attitude to be rewarded.

Bashir did well to pull off a diving stop at long leg, preventing a boundary and leaving Ravindra on strike. Ravindra's pull was rash, resulting in a top edge to Smith. With the next delivery, Archer produced a lifter that Nicholls tickled behind.

Latham and Conway cash in

This was a superb toss for New Zealand to win, especially after losing three key players, yet the batters still had to play well to score the runs.

Latham and Conway did so in record-breaking fashion, at one stage looking on course to produce the 26th wicketless day in Test history.

Conway played drives through the covers and down the ground, Latham clipped off his pads. Latham began by scoring more freely, then Conway got after the spin later on. Both were happy to take on the short ball.

In setting a New Zealand best partnership for any wicket against England they broke a record that had stood since 1926, but fell 21 short of the highest opening partnership by any team in Tests against England.

Nicholls and Ravindra came up against the second new ball late in the day, and Nicholls took a nasty blow to the head from Archer.

The consequences of Ravindra's lapse against Atkinson will only be revealed in time. England will return refreshed, holding a ball barely four overs old, and with nightwatchman Will O'Rourke and next man Daryl Mitchell both yet to face.

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