A new-look England side made a steady start on day one of the second Rothesay Test, reducing New Zealand to 166 for four under the guidance of returning captain Joe Root.
Root was leading his country for the 65th time but first in more than four years as a result of Ben Stokes’ dramatic removal from the squad, providing a sense of familiarity in a hastily rearranged team.
With Stokes absent pending the results of an investigation into his curfew-breaking night out, Root fronted a group including three debutants and five changes from the series-opening win at Lord’s.
Wearing his old blazer for the first time since March 2022, Root won the toss and opted to bowl first after a half-hour rain delay that left hint of early cloud cover in its wake.
In doing so he handed the stage to a bowling attack showing just one survivor – Josh Tongue – from the victory at Lord’s.
With Gus Atkinson stood down alongside Stokes and Ollie Robinson injured, new-ball duties fell to Jofra Archer and Matt Fisher. The latter, winning his second cap four years on from his first, turned in a tidy opening spell but hit the jackpot with the loosest delivery of the lot.
Dragging one down the leg side to Devon Conway, who completed a 23,000-mile round trip to Wellington to attend the birth of his child between games, he grazed the glove on the way through to newcomer James Rew behind the stumps. Rew had been a late addition to the line-up after replacing another new father, Jamie Smith.
That was the only breakthrough in the opening 20 overs, Henry Nicholls surviving a hopeful DRS call for caught behind in Sonny Baker’s first Test over and a run out chance from Tongue’s kick.
It took the reintroduction of Archer to get England’s second, squaring up away skipper Tom Latham and giving Jacob Bethell the chance to take a brilliant diving catch in the gully.
At 75 for two at lunch on a benign pitch, Root would have allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. Things got even better for the hosts shortly after the restart, Tongue’s pace forcing Nicholls on to the back foot and bowling him via a thick edge. New Zealand’s batters had been timid thus far, struggling to impose themselves on a bowling group notably lacking in experience.
That changed for a while with the appearance of Rachin Ravindra, who struck six boundaries in a busy knock of 33, but he was fourth to fall when Baker struck.
After expensive, wicketless outings in his ODI and T20 debuts, the Hampshire quick would have been desperate to open his account and he did so two balls into his seventh over, Ravindra flashing a back-of-length delivery to the safe hands of Bethell.
He leapt in the air, punched the air with both fists and took in the moment with his new team-mates. With England on top at 107 for four, Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell shared an unbroken stand of 57 to level out the momentum.
