New Zealand v England: We face an uphill struggle, says James Anderson

James Anderson admits that England are facing an uphill struggle in their bid to rescue the first Test against New Zealand, after a day of toiling in the field.

The hosts took their overnight score of 131 without loss to 402-7, a lead of 235, with debutant Hamish Rutherford top-scoring with a sublime 171.

“Our job now is to get three wickets and then we have to bat as long as we can to get ourselves into a safe position in the game,” said Anderson.

“It will be pretty difficult I would imagine.”

Anderson was the pick of the England attack as he took four Kiwi wickets, three of which came in a fiery spell after lunch where his frustrations with England’s predicament surfaced.

“It can build up sometimes, especially when you are disappointed to get such a low score and we have had to toil for the wickets today,” he added.

“Sometimes the frustration comes out in different ways. When you have got such a hard job to do and you are trying to bowl the opposition out emotions play a big part in it.”

With only a handful of overs bowled after tea due to a combination of rain and bad light, New Zealand face the choice of declaring overnight or building on their significant advantage.

Either way, Anderson believes there isn’t anything in the wicket that would concern him.

“There has not been too much in the way of seam or spin,” he added.

“There were some signs of the ball going through a bit lower but I don’t think there are any demons in the pitch we have to worry about if and when we come to bat in our second innings.”

Like The Sport Review on Facebook:

Read more on: james anderson, new zealand v england.