(Reuters) – New Zealand head to Nottingham for the second test in opposition to England with satisfaction wounded and their World Test Championship (WTC) marketing campaign on a knife-edge after a deflating loss at Lord’s.
Less than a yr after beating India on the similar venue to assert the inaugural WTC trophy, New Zealand’s five-wicket defeat on Sunday left them seventh within the standings and one other setback at Trent Bridge may show terminal for their title defence.
The Black Caps may do with all palms on deck to show issues round, however are unlikely to have all-rounder Collin de Grandhomme accessible for the match beginning Friday after he suffered a heel harm whereas bowling on day three.
New Zealand have choices to cowl De Grandhomme’s tempo bowling however could miss his decrease order batting.
The Black Caps’ issues are larger up the order, although.
The prime 4 produced solely 50 runs at Lord’s, with captain Kane Williamson’s long-awaited return from a difficult elbow harm falling flat with scores of two and 15.
The opening mixture of Tom Latham and Will Young has turn out to be an issue. Neither batsman has scored greater than 15 runs in a knock of their final three checks.
Even with these deficiencies, New Zealand had the match of their palms on day three at 250 for 4, solely to lose their final six wickets for 34 runs and pave the best way for century-maker Joe Root to information England to an unlikely win.
New Zealand head north to Nottingham with some positives, with center order batsman Daryl Mitchell (108) and wicketkeeper Tom Blundell (96) having mixed for an imposing 195-run stand within the third innings.
Selectors will hope Henry Nicholls has recovered from his calf harm and might add metal to the highest order.
Yet it is going to take quite a lot of cameo performances to show the sequence round for a group that has struggled to persistently play as a unit since their unlikely WTC triumph final June.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
