These player battles can headline England-New Zealand 3rd Test
What's the story
The third and final Test match between England and New Zealand will be played at Trent Bridge from Thursday. The series is currently tied at 1-1 after England's loss in the second Test at the Oval by 253 runs. Ben Stokes will return to lead the English side after missing out on the second Test due to disciplinary reasons. Meanwhile, here we look at the player battles that can headline the upcoming contest.
#1
Henry Nicholls vs Jofra Archer
Henry Nicholls was among the chief architects of NZ's win in the preceding Test, having smashed a brilliant 119 in the third innings. England would not want the southpaw to replicate his heroics. Ace pacer Jofra Archer will have the onus to keep Nicholls quiet. Notably, Archer trapped the batter once in the previous game as well. He took five wickets in total at The Oval.
#2
Joe Root vs Matt Henry
England's Joe Root and New Zealand's Matt Henry surged to the top of the ICC Test Batting and Bowling rankings, following their stellar show in the second game. While Root scored 46 and 77 in the match, Henry impressed with a match haul of 11/109. The two in-form veterans can cross swords in the decider as well. Notably, Henry has trapped Root five times across 15 Test innings, as per ESPNcricinfo. The latter averages a fine 51.8 in this regard.
#3
Tom Latham vs Gus Atkinson
NZ skipper Tom Latham will have the onus to negotiate the new ball against in-form pacer Gus Atkinson. The latter, who can swing the new ball with pace, is coming back to the XI after missing the second Test due to a nightclub incident. Notably, Atkinson has dominated the Kiwi opener in the past, trapping him thrice across seven Test innings. Latham averages a poor 20.66 in this regard.
Game specifics
Trent Bridge pitch report and timing of the match
The third Test match will start at 11:00am local time (3:30pm IST) on Thursday. The Trent Bridge pitch has been known to favor batting, with both teams scoring over 400 in the 2024 Test between England and the West Indies. However, spin played a major role in the latest County Championship match at Trent Bridge where Nottinghamshire beat Essex by an innings and 52 runs.