Duckett hundred drives England forward after NZ collapse

England flipped their opening day misery around remarkably on Day 2 of the Trent Bridge Test, bowling New Zealand out for 438 despite a 317-run opening partnership from Tom Latham and Devon Conway. Captain Ben Stokes led the turnaround with a four-wicket haul, before Ben Duckett's seventh Test hundred laid a solid platform for the hosts, who ended the day on 223/2.

Starting the day on 361/4, the remainder of New Zealand's innings was a stark contrast to the feast they had on the opening day. Daryl Mitchell nearly played onto his stumps in the second over of the day while looking to leave the ball belatedly. But night watchman William O'Rourke hung around to frustrate the seamers, even crunching a crisp cover drive off Jofra Archer. With not much happening for Archer and Josh Tongue with the second new ball, Stokes brought himself on for a probing spell as he got the ball to seam consistently.

He should have had O'Rourke with the edge headed straight to Joe Root at first slip, but wicketkeeper Jamie Smith came in the way of it with a dive. Stokes had Mitchell nicking behind, having the on-field call successfully overturned before O'Rourke hacked one up to hand the England captain his second of the morning. A contentious moment saw Mitchell Santner's review go in vain as he was bounced out by Stokes. Santner reckoned that the ball lobbed off his arm guard - as the side-on replay suggested, though it was perilously close to the sweatband at the bottom of his glove, which is what the TV umpire concluded. Stokes returned 3/13 off his eight overs in the opening session, with the latest of those making him the ninth Englishman to 250 Test wickets.

Tom Blundell and Nathan Smith got through to Lunch, before Blundell was dropped by Shoaib Bashir at deep backward square leg. The off-spinner made amends though, clinging onto a return catch from Smith on second attempt before trapping Blundell LBW on the reverse sweep with a yorker. Archer then wrapped things up with Ben Sears' wicket as New Zealand lost all their wickets for a collective sum of 121 runs, summing up an innings of missed opportunities after their openers put them in pole position on Day 1.

Ben Duckett started positively with two boundaries in the opening over but O'Rourke strangled Emilio Gay down the leg-side with a short ball for a duck. The defining moment of the innings saw Henry Nicholls put down a sitter at third slip with Duckett on 8. The left-hander capitalised on the lifeline, with New Zealand's seamers too friendly with their lines and lengths. They were either too full or too wide and Duckett dismissed them all from his presence, allowing Jacob Bethell to ease into his innings. England got past 50 in the 11th over with Smith bearing the brunt of the onslaught as Duckett soon sauntered to a 40-ball half-century.

The hosts enjoyed another fruitful session, getting to 73/1 by Tea, after which Bethell shifted gears, notching up his highest first innings score albeit in a very short Test career yet. Santner was introduced into the attack but bowled all over the place, dishing out full tosses and half-volleys that Duckett punished, even as he edged a couple of deliveries past slip to the fence. Sears, playing his first Test of the series, was also wayward and England's scoring rate surged past six per over, during the course of which the 100-run partnership was raised.

New Zealand's struggles worsened when Tickner went off the field experiencing nausea, as a result of a blow he took to the helmet while batting. He was eventually subbed out of the game for concussion and was replaced by Zakary Foulkes. The visitors opted for the short ball plan through O'Rourke but even that was dealt with comfortably. Bethell got to his fifty before Duckett reached his seventh Test hundred off just 88 deliveries, celebrating the landmark in animated fashion after a dry run of scores in the format.

Once again, it was the ploy of bringing the 'keeper up that worked for New Zealand as Smith had Duckett chopping the ball onto his stumps for 113. That allowed the bowlers to keep a check on the scoring rate with some quiet overs that included consecutive maidens from Smith and Foulkes, although Sears overstepped twice in an over to compound his woes. Foulkes beat Bethell thrice on the outside edge with the wicketkeeper up, but he got through to the close of play unbeaten on 74, with a solid-looking Root giving him company.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 438 all out (Devon Conway 157, Tom Latham 151; Ben Stokes 4-70) lead England 223/2 (Ben Duckett 113, Jacob Bethell 74*, Joe Root 21*; William O'Rourke 1-39) by 215 runs.