NZ vs ENG, Third Test: Broad at the double before New Zealand lose Nicholls to freak dismissal

New Zealand were 123 for five at tea, with Stuart Broad removing Tom Latham in the first over of the match

Stuart Broad led England’s attack in the absence of James Anderson before New Zealand lost Henry Nicholls in bizarre fashion on the opening day of the third Test at Headingley on Thursday.

New Zealand were 123 for five at tea, with Broad removing Tom Latham in the first over of the match prior to capturing the key wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

On the stroke of tea, Nicholls, who struggled to 19 off 99 balls, drove powerfully at left-arm spinner Jack Leach.

The ball deflected off non-striker Daryl Mitchell’s bat and then looped gently to Alex Lees at mid-off for an unlucky dismissal.

Mitchell was 25 not out, having already scored two hundreds in a three-match series where England have an unassailable 2-0 lead.

He might have been out for eight, however, but England decided against reviewing Matthew Potts’ rejected lbw appeal.

Replays indicated that by failing to challenge umpire Marais Erasmus’s original decision, England had missed the chance to reduce New Zealand to 97 for five.