England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test – New Zealand rocked by injuries to Henry and Phillips

Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs England

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first in the series decider against England at Trent Bridge, after their preparations had been rocked by the loss of both Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips from their starting XI.

Henry, Player of the Match with 11 wickets in last week’s 253-run victory at The Oval, has been ruled out with a calf injury, while Phillips, who scored his maiden Test century in New Zealand’s first innings, has reported a side strain.

Both men first experienced their injuries during the Oval Test. Henry subsequently underwent a scan which revealed a low-grade muscle strain. According to NZC, his anticipated recovery time is two-to-four weeks. Phillips will undergo further assessment to determine his return to action.

In the circumstances, Tom Latham, New Zealand’s captain, was visibly relieved to win a crucial toss and get the chance to bat first in sweltering conditions in Nottingham. With temperatures of up to 38 degrees forecast for the coming two days, his team have a chance to lay down a significant total and put several overs into the legs of England’s bowling attack.

The setbacks are nevertheless a huge blow to New Zealand, who appeared to have all of the momentum going into a crucial contest. England had already announced four changes to the side that lost last week, including the return of their captain Ben Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson, who were not selected in the wake of the nightclub episode that marred England’s victory in the series opener at Lord’s.

“It looks a reasonably dry surface so hopefully we can make use of it first up,” Latham said, while acknowledging the series had been a bit of a “tale of changes” for both teams.

New Zealand had already indicated two changes to their XI, with the spinner Mitchell Santner recalled for his first match of the series, and Blair Tickner included as a like-for-like replacement for Kyle Jamieson, who is being rested as part of his recovery from a back-stress injury. Ben Sears now slots into the line-up in place of Henry.

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, admitted he would have liked to bat first, but said his team’s “fond memories” of Trent Bridge would help to sustain their challenge over the coming five days. “It’s a massive week for myself and the team,” he added, in light of their recent off-field controversies.

New Zealand will be wearing black armbands in memory of the former fast bowler, Bob Blair, who died this week on his 94th birthday. Blair’s career was synonymous with the Tangiwai rail disaster in 1953, in which his fiancee was killed but he played on in an attempt to salvage a draw. “He was a great New Zealander with an iconic sporting story,” Latham said at the toss.

England: 1 Emilio Gay, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Ben Stokes (capt), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Nathan Smith, 9 Blair Tickner, 10 Will O’Rourke, 11 Ben Sears

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