Tea New Zealand 213 for 0 (Latham 109*, Conway 94*) vs England
Tom Latham and Devon Conway seized command of the third Test at Trent Bridge with a pair of centuries in a near-chanceless 213-run stand, as England - back at full strength after their makeshift XI at The Oval - found that their off-field problems weren't the only ones to concern them in this series decider.
On a sweltering opening day in Nottingham, Latham himself mitigated New Zealand's last-minute loss of both Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips by winning a crucial toss, and by tea, he and Conway had taken full toil on a perspiring attack.
Latham himself was the first to his landmark, with back-to-back boundaries off Ben Stokes to draw level with the great Martin Crowe on 17 Test centuries. By tea, Conway wasn't far away from what would be his eighth hundred, reaching the break on 94 not out, as New Zealand's openers compiled their country's third-highest stand in an overseas Test, and with plenty time to press on to even greater heights.
England's seamers proved committed but largely toothless on a flat, true deck, in temperatures that continued to soar as the day rolled on. The venue's typically fast outfield offered full value for shots, particularly to the short West Bridgford Road side, and England were already resigned to a day of hard toil when the recalled Shoaib Bashir entered the attack in the 11th over, and proceeded to bowl nine overs before lunch, the most by an England spinner in the first session of a home Test since 2013.
England scarcely created a chance in the morning session, though not for want of effort, but began to find some traction as the afternoon progressed. Jofra Archer might have prised the opening in his third over, when Stokes - pulling the strings once again as captain - reshuffled his slip cordon and moved third slip to a second gully. The very next ball, Archer found Latham's edge, clean through the resulting gap, with Harry Brook diving in vain from second.
England's most glaring opportunity, however, arrived midway through the afternoon session. Conway, by now on 71, pushed down the line of a good-length delivery from Bashir, and defended with a tangle of bat and pad. England opted against the review, assuming it was an inside-edge, but in fact the ball was shown to have hit the knee-roll first, and would have been smashing the stumps.
Stokes himself had entered the attack in the second hour of the morning, to loud acclaim from the Trent Bridge faithful. The stage was set for a "who writes your scripts" moment, to match that of the recalled Ian Botham against the same opponents 40 years ago. Instead, Conway leant out to meet his second ball, and drilled him straight down the ground for the fifth of his seven fours in the session.
Stokes did locate a decent rhythm in his afternoon spell, with a hint of late swing. Latham, on 86, came within a whisker of an under-edge into his off stump, then spooned a clip off the pads into no-man's land later in the same over. Worryingly for England, however, that latter delivery was the first of a handful to burst through the top of a dry and baked surface. It may be smooth going for batting so far, but that might not remain the case for the duration of this match.
Both openers had endured a fallow tour to date, with no fifties between them in eight previous innings. However, this was an ample and timely means to atone. Conway's cover-driving was a key feature of his stay, with the majority of his 16 fours coming in the arc from deep third to extra cover. Latham was arguably the more fluent of the pair, though with less recourse to the money shots, having picked off ten fours in 162 balls by the break.
The pair's success was the ideal means to mitigate the loss of two of New Zealand's outstanding performers from last week's 253-run win at The Oval. Matt Henry, Player of the Match with 11 wickets in that contest, was ruled out before the toss with a calf injury, as was Glenn Phillips, who sustained a side strain while compiling his maiden Test century in New Zealand's first innings of that match.
Mitchell Santner and Ben Sears were called up in their places, with Blair Tickner also included as a like-for-like for Kyle Jamieson, who was rested as part of his recovery from a back stress-fracture.
In the circumstances, Latham was visibly relieved to win a crucial toss and get the chance to bat first. With temperatures of up to 38 degrees forecast for the coming two days, his team now have a chance to lay down a massive total and put several overs into the legs of England's bowling attack.
