Second Test - day one (close)

New Zealand v England 290-8

SOMERSET spinner Jack Leach made his long-awaited England debut but the visiting batsmen again struggled on day one of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Leach was brought into the side as part of a four-man attack alongside James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood, who replaced Leach's Somerset teammate Craig Overton.

England were put in to bat but, as they had done in Auckland, lost early wickets as Alastair Cook (2) saw his off stump removed by Trent Boult and the recalled James Vince (18) yet again played some nice shots before failing to cash in.

A mini-collapse then halted England's porgress as they fell from 93-2 to 95-5 in the space of 1.3 overs as Joe Root (37), Dawis Malan (0) and Mark Stoneman (35) all fell quickly.

It was 164-7 when Ben Stokes (25) and Stuart Broad (5) also departed, leaving Jonny Bairstow to lead a fightback along with Wood, who went on to record his maiden Test half century.

The Durham paceman eventaully fell for 52, which was the cue for Leach to enter for his first Test match innings with a tricky period to negotiate against the new ball before the close.

The 26-year-old dug in, providing valuable support to Bairstow and ending the day unbeaten on 10 from 33 balls with one boundary to his name.

Bairstow will resume three runs short of a century and will hope to take England, who ended on 290-8, towards a total far enough in excess of 300 to give their four-man attack something to work with.

Elsewhere overnight, Leach's spin twin Dom Bess added a six-wicket haul to his earlier century to claim the man of the match award for the MCC in their Champion County match against Essex.

Bess, who scored 107 from number nine to lift the MCC to 408-8 declared, took 6-51 from 18 overs as the reigning champions were defeated by an innings and 34 runs.