NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) – England won the toss and elected to bowl against a changed New Zealand side rocked by the absence of captain Kane Williamson for what could be a decisive second test at Trent Bridge on Friday.
England were unchanged from the team that won by five wickets at Lord’s on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
“Generally here the wicket tends to get better as the game goes on, (so it’s) good to get them in early and put some pressure on and get Jimmy (Anderson) and Broady going with the new ball,” said captain Ben Stokes.
Tom Latham takes over as New Zealand captain after leading batsman Williamson tested positive for COVID-19 and went into isolation on the eve of the match.
All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has also been ruled out of the rest of the series due to a heel injury sustained in the opening match and the visitors made three changes for Trent Bridge.
All-rounder Michael Bracewell was handed his test debut as de Grandhomme’s replacement in the middle order while Matt Henry returns in place of Ajaz Patel and Henry Nicholls fills the gap left by Williamson.
Latham said he would have also opted to bowl, given the conditions.
England spinner Jack Leach, who suffered concussion and was withdrawn on the opening day of the first test, was passed fit to play.
“It was very unfortunate for him last week but he’s absolutely fine,” said Stokes.
The final test is at Headingley from June 23.
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Will Young, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
