Toss England chose to bowl first vs New Zealand

England have won the toss and elected to bowl first as they look to take an unassailable 2-0 lead against New Zealand in their three-Test series at Trent Bridge.

New Zealand had already flagged two enforced changes to their team, with captain Kane Williamson out after testing positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the match and Colin de Grandhomme ruled out of the remainder of the series by a foot injury he picked up mid-over during the first Test. They also opted to leave out left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel who bowled just two - expensive - overs at Lord's.

Jack Leach has been passed fit for England after suffering concussion in a freak fielding accident on the opening day of the first Test, meaning that the hosts go in with an unchanged side with play set to begin in fine conditions on a green-tinged pitch.

"It's good to get them in early, put some pressure on and get Jimmy and Broady going with the new ball again," Stokes said. "Go out and be even more positive and just try and put the pressure on."

"There's a little bit of a green tinge but it looks a bit dry as well," he said, adding that Williamson was doing okay albeit disappointed to miss the match.

"He was obviously very gutted to miss this Test but it presents opportunities for other guys," he said. "It's a huge honour to represent the guys and represent the country. We've had some really good results over the past few years and we've got a blueprint that works."

England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Will Young, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Trent Boult.