Kiwis sit comfortably against England

Hamilton : A century by Tom Latham followed by a decent spell of fast bowling by Tim Southee and Matt Henry have put New Zealand in a strong position in the ongoing second and final Test against England being played at the Seddon Park.

After scoring 375 in their first innings, New Zealand had England at 39/2 at Stumps on Day 2, with Rory Burns and skipper Joe Root batting on 24 and 6 respectively.

Earlier, starting the day at 173/3, the Black Caps lost Latham early as he could add just four runs to his overnight score before being clean bowled by Stuart Broad. Henry Nicholls also couldn't stay long as was dismissed on his individual score of 16.

However, BJ Watling, who became New Zealand's first wicketkeeper to score a Test double hundred in Mount Maunganui, continued from where he left and scored a patient half century to put the hosts in the driver's seat.

Along with Daryl Mitchell, Watling shared a 124-run partnership before he lost his wicket at 55. Mitchell however continued and played a handful knock of 73 runs.

First Test centurion Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee made useful contributions of 23 and 18 down the order and helped New Zealand go past the 350-run mark.

Brief scores: New Zealand 1st innings 375 all out (Tom Latham 105, Daryl Mitchell 73; Stuart Broad 4/73), England 39/2 at Stumps on Day 2 (Rory Burns 24*, Joe Root 6*; Matt Henry 1/10) trail by 336 runs.