Key events
42nd over: England 166-6 (Smith 31, Atkinson 7) Smith plays another majestic cover drive for four, this time off Henry, before punching another boundary through mid-off. Terrific batting. And that, my good friend, is tea.
41st over: England 158-6 (Smith 23, Atkinson 7) This partnership is worth 31, which makes it the fifth-highest of the match. O’Rourke almost ends it with a blistering yorker that knocks Atkinson off his feet. It would have swung past leg stump, a long way past it in fact, and New Zealand’s decision to review was a stinker. They still have two reviews left so it’s not a Headingley 2019 repeat.
40th over: England 157-6 (Smith 22, Atkinson 7) An outswinging yorker from Henry is edged along the ground for a couple by Smith. A single takes England’s lead to 184.
Incidentally, Ben Stokes has scored 15 runs in his last five Test innings. His form has been a worry for a couple of years – he averages 26.88 in his last 25 years – and the concern is growing.
39th over: England 154-6 (Smith 19, Atkinson 7) Smith stands tall to hammer O’Rourke through the covers for four. That’s a helluva shot, and the sound off the bat evoked this bit of Ricky Ponting porn. (Safe for work.)
England lead by 181.
38th over: England 148-6 (Smith 15, Atkinson 6) Matt Henry returns with the keeper up to the stumps. He starts with a maiden to Smith.
“Happy first Test of the summer,” writes Felix Wood. “I’m not saying that you’re personally responsible for England’s imminent collapse and humiliating defeat, but I’m not not saying it. I would really rather like Smith to get rid of his yips please, so if you could avoid saying anything nice about him that would be great. With great power comes great responsibility.”
And with the square root of bugger all power?
37th over: England 148-6 (Smith 15, Atkinson 6) Smith drives O’Rourke sweetly off the back foot for four runs.
A consequence of the recent mayham is that Emilio Gay’s 57 will be England’s highest score of the match. Do you hear that, Dame Fortune? Are you listening? I thnk the last England debutant to do that was Keaton Jennings in 2016-17.
“May I be the first to point out that if only the England batters were allowed some license to express themselves and counter attack against a dominant bowling attack,” says Brian Withington. “This rigid timidity and obsession with playing ‘proper cricket’ is the perennial curse of the national team.”
36th over: England 142-6 (Smith 10, Atkinson 5) Atkinson lashes Nathan Smith through point for his first boundary. Every little helps, and a pair of edges for four from Jamie Smith take England’s lead to 169. The second was close to the flying Phillips in the gully.
“Do we think England already have enough??” asks Phil Harrison. “Not even really joking…”
GOOD BECAUSE THIS IS NO JOKE. If conditions stay like this, they could have declared half an hour ago. But if the sun comes out, 250 might not be enough. And if England set New Zealand a target of exactly 205, I’m off.
35th over: England 129-6 (Smith 2, Atkinson 0) Smith breaks a bat while defending one of O’Rourke’s splice-botherers. While he waits for a replacement, I’ll segue gratuitously into a piece in this month’s Wisden Cricket Monthly on another Kiwi splice-botherer, Bruce Taylor. In the modern game he would be a franchise superstar, and it was a lot of fun reading about his career.
“Hey, remember five-day Tests?” chirps Matt Dony. “Good times…”
Some living souls remember ten-day Tests. I’d love to hear their hot, hot takes on modern batting.
34th over: England 127-6 (Smith 0, Atkinson 0) A double-wicket maiden for Nathan Smith. Replays show that the ball to Stokes straightened a touch, so it wasn’t quite the case that Stokes missed a straight one. But Stokes at his best, the 2019-21 version, would have dealt with it.
“Rob!” says Richard O’Hagan. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it!”
Given the nonsense I typed about Perth, if this ends in two days, I shall tender my resignation before sundown.
England have lost four wickets for one run in 11 balls. Ben Stokes has been cleaned up by Nathan Smith, having played down the wrong line of a delivery that didn’t do too much. Goodness me.
Before anyone opens their face, all four batters were out to defensive strokes.
WICKET! England 127-6 (Stokes b Smith 0)
Unbelieeeeeeeevable stuff!
New Zealand have bowled excellently in the last half hour, helped by the cloudy conditions. Incidentally, the last time Joe Root was out in single figures in both innings of a Test was… oh good lord.
“Invoking Perth 2025 straight off the bat, Rob!” sniffs Brian Withington. “Surely best consigned with Adelaide 2006 alongside the Ark in its sealed box in Warehouse 51?”
What has Victoria’s Gerard Denton-inspired Sheffield Shield win over South Australia got to do with anything?
Two wickets in two balls for New Zealand! Nathan Smith pinned Root with a very similar delivery that cut back sharply to hit the pad.
Root was hit above the flap of the pad and eventually reviewed – but it was umpire’s call and he’s out in single figures for the second time.
England were 126 for 2. They are no longer 126 for 2.
WICKET! England 127-5 (Root LBW b Smith 8)
33rd over: England 127-4 (Root 8, Smith 0)
WICKET! England 127-4 (Brook LBW b O’Rourke 0)
Another quick wicket and England might get the heebie-jeebies. This isn’t the Perth Zone, but it is the exact situation they have struggled to maximise in recent years.
Uh-oh, now Harry Brook has gone! He fell over a beautiful inducker from Will O’Rourke and was eventually given out LBW by Rod Tucker. Brook went upstairs but there were three reds and he’s gone for a duck.
32nd over: England 126-3 (Root 7, Brook 0) That was the last ball of the over. Smith celebrated by running straight to Blundell, though really he should have charged off the field to hug the guy who pounded the footholds a moment earlier.
Replays of Gay’s dismissal show that he could have left the ball from Smith on line, but that’s offensively easy to say from this distance. It was an instinctive flirtation outside off stump, the kind openers live and die by all the time.
WICKET! England 126-3 (Gay c Blundell b Smith 57)
Emilio Gay’s dreams of a debut century – and our dreams of a debut century for him – are over. Nathan Smith has struck with a good delivery from round the wicket. Gay pushed tentatively and got a thin edge that was well taken just above the ground by Tom Blundell. No real blame attached to Gay, who played nicely.
31.1 overs: England 124-2 (Gay 56, Root 6) There’s a bit of a break in play while somebody bashes the footholds at the end of from which Nathan Smith is bowling.
31st over: England 124-2 (Gay 56, Root 6) Gay has no chance of laying bat on a grubber from Jamieson. Happily for him, it’s well wide of off stump. Happily for England, who will bowl last, a few balls are starting to shoot through.
Mark Puttick points out that Gay is the first England opener to make a fifty on debut since Haseen Hameed and Keaton Jennings on the 2016-17 tour of India.
In fact he’s the first to reach 25, although there have only been six debutant openers in that time: Mark Stoneman, Rory Burns, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Dom Sibley and Alex Lees.
Thanks Tanya, hello everyone. England are effectively 148 for 2, which means they’re past the Perth Zone. In that astonishing Test they were seven down by the time the lead reached 148, and then things got even more interesting.
This match is far from a done deal, but we can safely* say it won’t finish inside two days.
* Ish
30th over: England 121-2 (Gay 55, Root 4) There’s some blue sky now creeping over north London. Root is giving himself time to settle and there’s just one from Smith’s over.
“I’ve not seen much of Emilio Gay before,” taps Tom Hopkins, “but he’s a very pleasing presence at the crease. Anyone who plays a late cut like that gets my vote.”
He looks pretty at home, doesn’t he. The players are taking drinks now, so time for me to leave you in the very safe hands of Rob Smyth. Thanks for all your messages and sorry I didn’t get to them all. Bye!
29th over: England 120-2 (Gay 54, Root 4) Root is off the mark, opens the face and sends four skidding to the rope. A leg slip crouches. Five dots from the rest of Jamieson’s over.
Fifty for Emilio Gay!
28th over: England 116-2 (Gay 54, Root 0) A change of bowling at the Nursery End, as Smith rolls up his sleeves . Another wristy four by Gay through deep third, slightly loopy. Next ball, he drops his hands and guides four to the same place but with less risk. Suddenly he’s on 48 and a couple of runs off his legs brings a debut Test fifty: 84 balls, seven fours. I think he considers for a second taking his helmet off, but thinks better of it, and allows himself a little raise of the bat and a smile. Well played. Polishes off the over with a third four.
27th over: England 100-2 (Gay 38, Root 0) Root taps his bat on the hard ground, rat-a-tat, a-tat-tat. Jamieson thunders in, Root lets the ball safely pass.
WICKET! Bethell b Henry 14 (England 99-2)
Done by a grubber! The ball barely lifts off the ground after bouncing and shimmies under an airborne Bethell’s bat and into his off stump.
26th over: England 99-2 (Gay 37,) Henry traps Bethell on the crease, then Bethell edges past slip and he’s finally taken out by low bounce. A crucial wicket just as it looked as if these two were taking England away. The lead now 126.
25th over: England 97-1 (Gay 37, Bethell 12) Time for a bowling change and Jamieson replaces the unlucky O’Rourke after an excellent spell. He’s straight back into the grove for a maiden. Bethell and Gay come together for a chat in the middle, unfamiliar territory for both of them.
24th over: England 97-1 (Gay 37, Bethell 12) There’s a post lunch quiet hum around Lord’s. Henry bounds in, back spasm notwithstanding. A fistful of singles
Hello there Kim Thonger.
“I’m trying to keep up with events while meeting and greeting potential clients at the BADA Fair in Rutland. That’s the British Antique Dealer’s Association for the uninitiated. I’m offering a score update option to everyone I meet and plugging the OBO. Every time England get a boundary I shout BADA Bing BADA Boom and the men in white coats (they’re not umpires) may drag me off soon.”
23rd over: England 94-1 (Gay 34, Bethell 12) Sky show how hard O’Rourke worked to push Bethell back in his crease so that when he came to drive his balance would be off – only for Conway to shell the catch. He’s still thudding in and gives Bethell another stern examination. Another maiden.
22nd over: England 94-1 (Gay 34, Bethell 12) This is, dare I say it, very sensible from England. Careful. A pushed two here, a single there. Four leg side byes from an off-target Henry are gratefully received.
21st over: England 87-1 (Gay 34, Bethell 9) A 90mph maiden from a cheesed-off O’Rourke.
20th over: England 87-1 (Gay 34, Bethell 9) Three catches now fluffed in this innings, plus the missed chance of a review. In a low-scoring game, particularly galling for the bowlers . Three singles from Henry’s over.
19th over: England 84-1 (Gay 32, Bethell 8) New Zealand, famous for their fielding, suddenly with soapy fingers, drop another. This time Devon Conway, who also dropped Harry Brook in the first innings, fails to collect an awkward drive by Bethell at backward point and fluffs the rebound. O’Rourke, who has been steaming in, is unimpressed,
18th over: England 84-1 (Gay 32, Bethell 8) Bethell is getting some chin music here, Bethell twists into a short ball, neither duck nor dodge and is hit on the shoulder.
An email wings in from Matt Guthrie in Montana. “For Bill Hargreaves and others (over 10), may I recommend the amazing ArtButMakeItSports which juxtaposes action shots from sporting events with similar works of art. Great fun!”
18th over: England 84-1 (Gay 32, Bethell 8) Four leg byes and a couple more runs on the drive from Gay off Henry.
17th over: England 78-1 (Gay 30, Bethell 8) O’Rourke from the pavilion end. A gorgeous square drive, with dipped knee, brings Gay the first boundary of the session.
“Afternoon Tanya,” hello Tom Hopkins.
”I haven’t done the statistical analysis to back this up, but I have the impression that for a lot of years Lord’s Tests tend to have started with a tumble of wickets then the pitch has died a death and we’ve ended up with big scores if not bore draws.
”I’m not sure if that’s happening here, or even if it’ll have time to, but I do wonder if there’s an underlying (literally, I guess!) issue and whether Lord’s gets something of a free pass not afforded to other grounds?”
Interesting hypothesis. I think it definitely gets more of a pass because all the visiting teams want to play there. They haven’t had much rain in the south east recently so I don’t know if that is also a factor. Rob is taking over from me in about an hour and he remembers everything, so try him for a full breakdown.
Afternoon session
16th over: England 73-1 (Gay 25, Bethell 8) The lights are on, the skies are brooding, but the sun, for now, is out. Henry, after two expensive overs this morning, continues. A huge lbw appeal second ball against Gay. Henry is keen, Latham less so, and NZ don’t go upstairs. Ah, they should have done, replays show the ball would have clipped the top of leg stump. The balcony give it out which might be why Latham decides at the last moment to review another lbw against Bethell. This one would just have clipped the top so umpire’s call.
A full session of play and only five wickets to fall. It must have got slightly easier to bat. Possibly. I thought Duckett and Gay batted with real discipline against some excellent Kiwi bowling. The post lunch session will be key
Time for me to grab a sandwich, back shortly.
15th over: England 72-1 (Gay 24, Bethell 8) Bethell gets his eye in before lunch with two fours, one through the covers and one gully. O’Rourke finishes the session with a firecracker that flies up and hits an evading Bethell on glove and chest. Gay and Bethell punch gloves and are applauded through the Long Room and into the dressing room. England’s session – the lead 99.
14th over: England 64-1 (Gay 24, Bethell 0) Henry again. Gay cover drives him with a morale-boosting purr for four, but should have been caught next ball as he edges and the ball flies between diving first and second slips. Four byes completes a helpful 12-run over for England.
13th over: England 52-1 (Gay 16, Bethell 0) Duckett so nearly made it to lunch. O’Rourke greets Bethell with a snorting bouncer that he rather balletically evades.
An email drops from a nearly airborne Charlie Dunmore. “About to take off from Geneva to Heathrow to take my kids to their first ever cricket match. Could only get tickets for the 4th day at Lord’s, so if the wickets keep falling, they may have to settle for Surrey v Hampshire at the Oval, which may not be the experience they were hoping for…” I think the forecast is dodgy for Saturday, so you may still be in luck. If not, the Oval is a great place to watch cricket. The Guardian will be live blogging from that game so drop us a line if you end up having to placate them with your reserve plans.
WICKET! Duckett c Phillips b O’Rourke 33 (England 52-1)
Duckett bends his knees as if he’s about do dig a sandcastle and dollops the ball into the hands of Phillips at gully.
12th over: England 46-0 (Duckett 27 ,Gay 16) Matt Henry comes in for his first over since his four yesterday. He’s tentative and it’s not terribly successful. His first ball is a fat wide one that Duckett drives down the ground, the next a half volley driven to the long on boundary. The third ball slides past Duckett and hits wicketkeeper Blundell on the end of his fingers, who howls with pain.
11th over: England 35-0 (Duckett 18 ,Gay 15) Gay ducks O’Rourke’s first ball and is lucky to survive a rash drive at his second. Ducks the fifth but slides four through deep third off the final delivery. England just starting to pick up the pace here.
10th over: England 31-0 (Duckett 18 ,Gay 11) Smith hastens in, spidery moustache resting on his lip. At last a wideish ball, and Gay bends his back, rolls his wrists and sends four handsomely towards the Grandstand. Smith is furious with himself and after he collects his cap, wrestles it in frustration.
“I’d love to see Squires do something with that photo from the 25th over,” writes Bill Hargreaves. “He worked wonders with his Caravaggio take on the Arsenal West Ham game.”
9th over: England 24-0 (Duckett 17 ,Gay 5) O’Rourke replaces Jamieson and his first ball is nasty, brutish and short, rapping Duckett’s bottom hand. Duckett pulls his hand away immediately, and the physio runs on and manipulates things. Duckett continues and Rourke pins him in place with six dot balls.
Hello there, Tom van der Gucht.
“The way this pitch sounds to be playing reminds me of Baldrick in Blackadder Goes Fourth when he engraved his name on a bullet as he felt that he’d be less likely to be shot if he owned the said bullet with his name on… Perhaps England should take a leaf out of his book and take the ball with their name on it out of the equation by going hell for leather old-school Bazball style.” I wonder if they might be, had the winter not unravelled as it did.
8th over: England 24-0 (Duckett 17 ,Gay 5) Gay is rapped on the knee and Smith appeals with gusto, but given not out and NZ don’t go upstairs. Outside the line I think.
