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Jamie Smith helped England recover from a middle-order collapse as they set New Zealand 254 to win the first Test at Lord’s on Friday.
England were dismissed for 226 in their second innings on the second day of a frenetic clash in north London.
New Zealand’s Nathan Smith took 6-70, the second five-wicket haul of the paceman’s six-match Test career.
In reply, New Zealand slipped to 36 for 3 in their chase of the winning target, as England seized early control of the contest in a decisive opening burst with the ball.
Captain Tom Latham fell to just the third delivery of the innings, setting the tone for a difficult start, before Kane Williamson was trapped palpably lbw by Josh Tongue in a major early blow to the chase.
England maintained relentless pressure, with Gus Atkinson removing nightwatchman Will O’Rourke to further deepen New Zealand’s troubles.
Despite the looming threat of poor weather on Saturday and Monday, the match is still expected to produce a result, with enough time remaining for a decisive finish. England, buoyed by their dominant position, now stand as strong favourites to secure a morale-boosting victory after their heavy Ashes defeat,
New Zealand who were dismissed for just 113 in the first innings, they need a vastly-improved batting effort to avoid falling 1-0 behind in the three-match series.
Debutant opener Emilio Gay was England’s top-scorer in their second innings with 57 and wicket-keeper Smith made 39.
Gay, speaking to BBC Sport, said: “A tough day, the pitch had its demands. That’s the beauty of Test cricket, the challenges it brings.
“The most important thing was trying to embrace it and see it as an opportunity. When it’s a low-scoring game, partnerships of 20 and little bits of momentum there are massive, so I had to work hard with the new ball but against the attack that New Zealand have to offer, with the skill they bring, it’s always going to be tough.”
Earlier, England lost four wickets for just one run as 126-2 quickly became 127-6 before Smith steadied the ship in the 150th Test at Lord’s — the most of any ground.
Smith received good support from Gus Atkinson during a seventh-wicket stand of 57.
But Atkinson gave his innings away on 14 when his miscued pull off Kyle Jamieson was caught by the towering fast bowler.
This is England’s first Test since a 4-1 series loss in Australia where they squandered several promising positions.
And it looked like they might be suffering a repeat of their Ashes debacle when Harry Brook, fresh from a first-innings fifty, and England captain Ben Stokes were both dismissed without scoring on Friday.
There was little Jamie Smith could do when Nathan Smith bowled him with a delivery that kept low to end a 52-ball innings including six fours.
England were 99-2 when Jacob Bethell was bowled by a Matt Henry delivery that kept low.
Gay, however, was still seeking to punish New Zealand for failing to review a rejected Henry lbw appeal when the Durham batsman would have been out for 24.
Gay pressed on to an 84-ball fifty, including seven fours, before he was caught behind off Smith to leave England 126-3.
Brook was trapped in front by Will O’Rourke for a duck and Joe Root fell in similar fashion to Smith for eight. Stokes was bowled by an excellent Smith delivery that angled in before clipping the top of the left-hander’s off stump. Ollie Robinson made a useful 29 before he holed out off Nathan Smith to end the innings.
Earlier, Robinson celebrated a five-wicket haul on his return to England duty.
The Sussex pace bowler, playing his first Test in more than two years, produced a triple-wicket maiden on Thursday during a sensational return of 4-10 in six overs as New Zealand slumped to 61-6 at stumps.
He wrapped up the innings on Friday by bowling last man Henry for a duck to leave New Zealand 27 runs behind England’s first-innings 140 all out.
Robinson finished with his Test-best figures of 5-39 in 10.1 overs.
Agencies
