Stuart Broad double and freak dismissal helps put England on top at Headingley

Stuart Broad’s double strike and a freak dismissal on the stroke of tea put England in a strong position on day one of the Headingley Test, with New Zealand struggling on 123 for five.

In the middle of a busy week for Broad, who announced on the eve of the match that he is expecting his first child with fiancee Mollie King and celebrates his 36th birthday on day two, it was business as usual for the veteran seamer who took two top-order scalps.

The Kiwis asked England to field first in serene batting conditions, but lost their first wicket to Broad before a run had been scored and never quite got their noses back in front.

Broad followed his early dismissal of Tom Latham with the key scalp of returning captain Kane Williamson in the run-up to lunch and might have added to his haul had a couple of inside edges been a little closer to a diving Ben Foakes.

Jack Leach also struck with his first ball of the morning session and debutant Jamie Overton, standing in for the injured James Anderson, opened his international account to ensure another breakthrough in the afternoon.

A partnership of 40 had begun to level things out until Henry Nicholls was the victim of outrageous ill-fortune, hammering a lofted drive off Leach only for the ball to ricochet off the middle of non-striker Daryl Mitchell’s bat and into the hands of mid-off.

It was an unexpected, unearned, boost but one that left the Kiwis with plenty of hard work to post a competitive score in good batting conditions.

The old adage at Headingley is to look up, not down, when deciding what to do at the toss, but this time both views offered encouragement to bat. With cloudless, sunny skies overhead and barely a hint of grass underfoot, Williamson did not need to think