England vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes' side stage mini fightback deep into draining first day of series decider at Trent Bridge

25.06.2026, 21:23 skysports.com

England staged a mini fightback deep into an otherwise demoralising, draining first day of the series deciding third Test against New Zealand at a scorching Trent Bridge.

Tom Latham (151) and Devon Conway (157) had seemingly batted England into submission with a record 317-run opening partnership against their hosts, only for four wickets to fall in little more than an hour to see the Black Caps reduced to 361-4 by stumps.

Ben Stokes, back as captain after he and Gus Atkinson served a one-match suspension, provided the breakthrough as Latham - dropped on 129 by Jamie Smith - was this time snapped up by the wicketkeeper, while Conway followed his partner back to the pavilion an over later as he perished in the deep off Joe Root (1-7).

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Atkinson (1-62) and Jofra Archer (1-53) then took two wickets in two balls to end the day's play as Rachin Ravindra (7) perished to a top-edged hack across the line and Henry Nicholls (36) nicked off.

For long periods of the day, it looked set to be a punishing return to the side as skipper for Stokes, though little blame could be laid at his door for his side's struggles, with the exception of losing a crucial toss.

Latham, unsurprisingly, opted to make first use of a belting batting surface baked in sunshine, much to the visible frustration of Stokes, who was forthcoming in admitting England would have done the same.

Stokes, who spoke prior to the Test of being "frustrated" and "disappointed" about how his and Atkinson's suspension unfolded, was warmly welcomed back by the home crowd when his first bowl of the morning was greeted with huge cheers.

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The pair were dropped from England's second Test defeat at The Oval after breaking a curfew at a nightclub in west London where an incident took place in the early hours of June 8 when celebrating the series-opening victory at Lord's. They were later cleared of any wrongdoing following investigations conducted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Independent Cricket Regulator.

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Chances were few and far between for England on what was, for the most part, a chastening first day in Nottingham, and they were at fault for spurning the off rare opening they did create.

Latham, when on 8, edged through a gap at third slip off Archer, the very next ball after that man had been moved out of the cordon to gully.

England wasted an lbw review to Conway on 61, with Josh Tongue's yorker sliding comfortably down leg, while they then failed to refer a Shoaib Bashir shout that would have seen the opener out for 71.

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England opted against sending the appeal to DRS due to detecting bat on ball, but Conway's inside edge was struck after pad first and the ball was shown to be going on to hit the stumps.

Latham and Conway ultimately cruised to their respective 17th and eighth Test centuries, with the latter beginning to up the tempo after doing so, tucking into Bashir in particular as he hit the spinner for two of three sixes for his fine innings.

The opening pair soon had 150s to their names, pushing their partnership beyond the 300 mark, before England finally made the breakthrough.

And of course it was Stokes who provided it, letting out a huge roar in celebration that surely had some frustration mixed in with it, as Latham feathered an edge behind.

Conway attempted one big shot too many when holing out to deep midwicket in Root's next over, suddenly giving England an opening and two new batters at the crease.

The second new ball was taken late in the evening, but it looked like Ravindra and Nicholls - fresh from his century in the Black Caps' second Test win at The Oval - were lining up big scores of their own into the second day's play until Atkinson and Archer struck late on to give England another sizeable lift in such sapping conditions.

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Watch day two of the third Test between England and New Zealand, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday from 10.15am (first ball 11am). Stream cricket and more with NOW - no contract.