ENG 111/2 (43.0 ov, Joe Root 42*, Rory Burns 59*, Tim Southee 1/17) – Stumps – England vs…


6.55pm: I’ll sign off there, on behalf of Karthik and Thilak. Thanks for joining me throughout the day, and we’ll be back again bright and early tomorrow morning.

6.50pm: Henry Nicholls has been speaking to the BBC: “[Disappointed not to make more as a team?] It would have been nice but it gives us a lot of incentive as a bowling unit to show that if you’re able to get a wicket, you’re able to get two or three quite quickly. If you can put pressure on the new batsman you can get a couple in a row. [Conway] Incredible, he’s taken to international cricket like it’s nothing. He’s a very level guy and has taken everything in his stride. He’s a bit knackered to have been out there for every ball of the game, but he’s deserved all the praise he’ll get.

“[Pitch?] We’re hoping it’ll break up. In that last session there was a bit of up and down and a little bit of spin as well for Mitch. Depending on the weather, we might be able to create a bit of uneven bounce and put a bit of doubt in the English boys’ minds. [Own innings] A lot of hard work last night and then starting against the new ball this morning. You always want to kick on and do more but it was good to have a decent-sized partnership with Devon. We’re looking forward to a good start on Day 3.”

6.47pm: Graham Thorpe, England’s assistant coach, speaking to the BBC: “We said yesterday that although we only picked up three wickets we never let them get away, and if we could make inroads today, we’d give ourselves a good chance of getting back into the day. Our bowlers ready stood up. A really good fightback. Slightly annoying last-wicket partnership but to bowl NZ out for 378 from the start of the day, we’re really pleased. [Conway] Remarkable effort, he played fantastically well. We threw a lot at him. Great character, technically played very well and didn’t give us many chances.

“[Robinson] It was a very hard day and tested his personality and his character. He had to say sorry and apologise. Not easy in a dressing room and then to the world. We were really pleased with how he responded and we have to support him as a player in our team. Really happy with the way he performed: talented bowler, and he showed that. [Culture] It is big, as we know. He made a mistake a long time ago and he’s a changed character. We’re pleased he was able to perform at that level again.

“[Sibley/Crawley] That’s the game, sometimes you’ll get very good deliveries bowled at you and sometimes you’ll make some poor choices as well. They’re both aware that they probably made errors in decision-making. [Burns/Root] Really important partnership, two down for 20-odd. Still a deficit and we’ll have to play very well again tomorrow. We’ll have to bat throughout tomorrow to put them under pressure. We’ve seen the odd ball misbehave but still a very good batting pitch for me.”

6.32pm: Stumps on the second day, and England have fought their way back into the game thanks to an unbroken stand of 93 between Burns and Root. New Zealand were cruising at 288 for 3 this morning but lost four wickets for six runs, and it took support from Neil Wagner for Devon Conway to make it to a round 200 on his debut. Southee and Jamieson struck once each with the new ball, removing Crawley and Sibley respectively, but this game is in the balance at the close. Stick around for some player reaction when we get it.



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