NZ lead England by 165 heading into final day
Rory Burns puts up a defiant century
New Zealand reached stumps on day four at 62-2 in the second innings on Saturday to lead England by 165 runs heading into the final day of the first test at Lord’s.
New Zealand’s opening batsmen withstood a fiery spell of relentless fast bowling in the final session until Ollie Robinson struck twice, castling Devon Conway (23) before skipper Kane Williamson (1) was trapped leg before.
Williamson had only just survived an lbw decision after it was overturned on review when a faint edge was detected, but he was trapped again on the very next delivery with England benefiting from their own review.
Tom Latham (30) and nightwatchman Neil Wagner (2) were at the crease at the end of day’s play.
Earlier, Tim Southee took 6-43 while England opener Rory Burns hit 132 on his side’s way to being bowled out for 275 in the first innings.
Burns kept the New Zealand attack at bay while the wickets tumbled at the other end at regular intervals, with four batsmen trudging back to the pavilion after being dismissed for ducks.
The opener led a painful but charmed life — hit on the head twice, thrown a lifeline when wicketkeeper BJ Watling missed a chance to stump him, and dropped by Southee in the slips off Wagner when he was on 88.
PERFECT START England had resumed the day on 111-2 after rain washed out day three and Kyle Jamieson gave New Zealand the perfect start when he had Joe Root caught in the slips with the first delivery of the day.
Ollie Pope (22) was the next to go after a solid start, missing an angled delivery from Southee which rapped him on the pads. The umpire demurred, but New Zealand successfully reviewed and overturned the decision.
Southee then had Dan Lawrence caught at third slip before uprooting debutant James Bracey’s off stump, with both batsmen returning to the pavilion for ducks.
At that point a follow-on looked distinctly possible, with England far behind on 140-6.
However, Robinson provided some resistance and nearly marked his debut with a half-century only to fall at 42 when he pulled a short ball to Jamieson at long leg to give Southee his fifth wicket.
Jamieson was then rewarded for his toil in the sunshine with a third wicket when Mark Wood (0) was caught behind off an inside edge.
Stuart Broad drew a cheer when he smashed the first six of the innings, but he was punished the very next ball when Wagner had him bowled.
Burns was running out of partners, but last man James Anderson frustrated the visitors, and the pair stitched together a 52-run partnership, with Burns reaching his century before becoming Southee’s sixth victim when he was caught behind.
New Zealand posted a first innings total of 378, with debutant Conway scoring a double ton. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Pritha Sarkar)
New Zealand lead England by 165 heading into final day
