Toss: New Zealand chose to bat vs England
Ollie Pope will bat at No. 3 for the first time in red-ball cricket, while Jonny Bairstow moves to No. 5, meaning no space for the spare batter in the squad, Harry Brook. “It’s been a really good couple of days leading up to the Test,” Stokes said, “everyone’s really excited to get going.”
New Zealand’s selection conundrums largely came down to whether Boult would be fit to play alongside his long-time new-ball partner Tim Southee, having only arrived in the UK on Monday. Patel’s selection owed to the expectation of a drier, more batter-friendly surface.
With Henry Nicholls ruled out in advance as he continues to recover from a calf strain, New Zealand have shuffled their batting order. Devon Conway bats at No. 4 – having scored a double-hundred as an opener on debut at Lord’s this time last year – while Daryl Mitchell slots in at No. 5. Williamson plays his first Test since November after struggling with an elbow problem. “It’s been a little while, so it’s great to be back in the side,” he said.
England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson
New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Trent Boult