Young and Conway hit fifties to put New Zealand in command

Will Young fell in sight of a maiden Test hundred during the last over of Friday’s play after helping New Zealand establish a solid position against England in the second and final Test at Edgbaston.

There were just three balls left in the second day when Young was out for 82 after turning part-time off-spinner Dan Lawrence to Ollie Pope at short leg.

Lawrence’s first Test wicket brought about stumps, with New Zealand well-placed at 229-3 in reply to England’s first innings 303, a deficit of 74 runs. Young shared stands of 122 with opener Devon Conway (80) and 92 with Ross Taylor (46 not out).

Conway’s innings saw him back up his stunning 200 on debut in last week’s drawn first Test at Lord’s with another impressive knock.

In match where James Anderson set a new England appearance record of 162 Tests, it was longstanding new-ball colleague Stuart Broad who led the hosts’ attack with a miserly 2-22 in 15 overs.

That meant Broad had surpassed former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 Test wickets as he moved into sixth place in the all-time list.

Broad struck early in New Zealand’s reply when Tom Latham, captaining the side in place of injured star batsman Kane Williamson, was lbw for six.

Nottinghamshire paceman Broad thought he had dismissed Conway for 22 when he edged low towards Zak Crawley in the slips.

But with on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough having made a soft signal of ‘not out’ as he requested a review, replay official Michael Gough felt there was insufficient evidence for him to overturn that call.

Young, replacing Williamson at number three in one of an exceptional six changes to the New Zealand team, should have been out for seven when he edged fast bowler Olly Stone but England captain Joe Root dropped a routine catch at first slip.

Left-hander Conway was largely untroubled until, on 80, a rare lapse in concentration saw him flamboyantly flick Broad straight to Crawley at deep square leg to end a 143-ball innings including 12 fours.

New Zealand had moved on to 154-2 when Anderson had Taylor lbw for 11 only for a review to reveal the ball was missing leg stump.

Young, who had already scored two first-class hundreds for English county Durham this season, then completed a maiden Test fifty off 132 balls including seven fours in just his third match at this level.

Earlier, England, who had been 175-6, resumed on their overnight 258-7.

Lawrence was 67 not out and Mark Wood 16 not out after opener Rory Burns had made 81 on Thursday following his hundred at Lord’s.

But while Mark Wood made an entertaining 41, no one in the England tail could stay at the crease long enough to help Lawrence, who finished on 81 not out, to a maiden Test century.

Trent Boult led New Zealand’s attack, the recalled left-arm swing bowler taking 4-85 in 29 overs.

It was an encouraging haul for Boult ahead of New Zealand’s appearance in next week’s inaugural World Test Championship final against India at Southampton.

Agence France-Presse