New Zealand entered the second Test as underdogs against England, as they were coming from a five-wicket loss at Lord’s in the first Test and they were also without their COVID-hit captain Kane Williamson and veteran all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme.
Despite these factors, New Zealand stunned one and all with their strong start to the second Test against England on Friday (June 10), as the tourists were at 318/4 after the opening day’s play at Trent Bridge.
After the stump, Devon Conway (46) credited their positive mindset for the team’s strong start in the second Test against England. On Saturday, Daryl Mitchell (81*) and Tom Blundell (67*) will resume the second day's play, as New Zealand is aiming for a series-leveling victory in the second Test against England.
Devon Conway told reporters: “One of the things we spoke about in our batting meetings between tests was to try and be a bit more aggressive – have that positive mindset and intent to score. We were probably lacking that a bit in the first test. We tried to control that as best as possible and are reaping the rewards after day one.”
New Zealand batter said that the tourists would have preferred to bowl first on the green pitch of Trent Bridge, but stressed that the wicket was not “as bad as it looked” for batting in the first innings.
He signed off by saying, “The English bowlers bowled quite full and that presented us with scoring opportunities. As batters, we always try to hit the ball as straight as possible, but we just reacted to what was in front of us and that allowed us to hit a square of the wicket.”
(With AP Inputs)
