PINT OF NO RETURN

Dropped catches & cider on ball frustrate Stokes

- DEAN WILSON

CRICKET: 2ND TEST, DAY 1

ENGLAND were left cursing missed opportunities and a punter’s pint as New Zealand hit back with a thunderous opening day at Trent Bridge.

Once again it was their first Test heroes, centurion Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, who did most of the damage with an unbroken 149-run partnership.

But four dropped and missed catches of varying difficulty ended up costing England on a pitch that is probably more batsman-friendly than they thought at the start of the day.

And the fact that one of Mitchell’s two sixes landed flush in the plastic glass of a spectator, thus removing the swing that England had been enjoying, told them it wasn’t their day.

It meant for the second Test running the captain who won the toss was left wondering whether or not they had done the right thing.

At Lord’s, Kane Williamson chose to bat under heavy skies and had his decision backfire immediately with his team 39-6 at lunch.