NZ v England: Latham unfazed by Black Caps’ fielding woes

New Zealand captain Tom Latham has defended his side in the wake an eight-wicket loss to England in the first Test, saying on Sunday that fielding is not an issue.

The hosts shelled eight catches in Christchurch — including five off Harry Brook, who went on to top score with 171 runs.

“I don’t think it’s something that requires work,” Latham said.

“We certainly put the work in behind the scenes, training days, that sort of thing.

“It certainly hasn’t been a continuous thing that’s been happening.

“It’s just one of those games – sometimes when one goes down, they all keep falling.

“We like to stay nice and level and try not to over-emphasise things.

“Sometimes, some grounds have different challenges with different backgrounds.

“From our point of view, we’re not looking for excuses.

“We know we need to be better, and we’ll hopefully do that in Wellington.”

Live cricket betting odds had the Black Caps as firm favourites after they posted 348 in the first innings and had England on the ropes at 71/4 on day two.

Had New Zealand held on to even half of their dropped catches, the Test could have unfolded entirely differently.

“To have them 70 for 4 with our tails up, if we take some catches — certainly myself included — things might look slightly differently,” Latham continued.

“Even though the result of the game does look quite big, there are small margins in a game of cricket, and unfortunately, things didn’t quite fall the right way.

“By no means of not trying, boys are putting the effort in, and some days that’s just cricket — it’s the game we play — unfortunately things like that happen.”

The loss was a big hit to New Zealand’s World Test Championship hopes, with the side falling to fourth on the table as their chances of qualifying for next June’s final fade.

Winning their next clash against England is a must, but cricket bookmakers now have the visitors as slight favourites.

Bovada is paying +100 for an English win in the second Test in Wellington, starting this Friday, while the Kiwis are at +120 to level the series.

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