Patient Kiwis shine during England tour match

After a series of false starts, New Zealand was relieved to finally get some time in the middle of their tour of England.

On Saturday, the Black Caps got some crucial batting practice against Sussex County, ahead of the first Test against England, which begins on June 2 at Lord’s.

At The 1st Central County Ground, four New Zealand hitters made half-centuries, with opener Tom Latham leading the way with an unbeaten 65 against a Sussex bowling line-up that included England fast Ollie Robinson.

As the Black Caps progressed to 342/3 at the close of the day’s play, Will Young (55), Michael Bracewell (51), and Tom Blundell (51) all scored undefeated fifties.

It came after heavy rain made the first day of the four-day match impossible to play, and New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi was relieved his batters had had some time to adjust to the English conditions.

“What we’re aiming is for our boys to come from home to here and face and overcome those types of problems,” Ronchi said after the game.

“It was wonderful to bat all day and for a few players to get some runs and get their legs behind them for the journey.”

New Zealand will meet England in three Tests next month, with both sides vying for vital World Test Championship points.

Kane Williamson, the Kiwi captain, is still in New Zealand awaiting the birth of his second child, while a trio of players have been ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19 on the day of the Sussex match.

Henry Nicholls, Blair Tickner, and Shane Jurgensen are currently in isolation until Wednesday, but head coach Gary Stead is hopeful that they will be fit for the tour match against a select county XI beginning on Thursday at the County Ground in Chelmsford.

“They are all doing fine,” Stead added, “but they have all been infected with the virus.”

“I believe all we can do is try to reduce and mitigate the risk that exists.”

“We have measures in place that we’ve been following, but I suppose the nature of the virus is that it’s highly contagious and easy to catch.”

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Cameron Fletcher, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young