Rory Burns (59*) and Joe Root (42*) fought hard in the last session to help England finish Day 2 on 111/2 after they had been reduced to 18/2. Despite that, they are 267 behind in the first innings in the first Test match of the two-Test series against New Zealand, at Lord’s.
Earlier, Devon Conway became the seventh male player to make a double century on Test debut. He single-handedly helped New Zealand reach 378. Apart from Conway, Henry Nicholls (61) was the only batter for the tourists who scored in excess of 25. Coming at No. 11, Neil Wagner (25) played some glorious shots before Conway’s run out.
Resuming at 246/3, Nicholls and Conway shared a 174-run stand for the sixth wicket before Nicholls fell to Mark Wood (3-81). BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, and Mitchell Santner then fell in quick succession. From 288/3, New Zealand slipped to 294/7 in very little time, credits to Wood’s exceptional spell of 3-7.
However, Conway was unmoved from the other end. He helped add 61 for the final two wickets, alongside Tim Southee (9) and Wagner to take New Zealand to a decent total in the first innings.
The England bowlers did a much better job on Day 2. Debutant Ollie Robinson returned 4-75 and James Anderson 2-83.
Coming to bat, England lost Dominic Sibley to Southee (1-17) and Zak Crawley to Kyle Jamieson (1-29). Root and Rory Burns then held the fort and forged an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 93 before the close of play.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand 378 (Devon Conway 200; Ollie Robinson 4-75) lead England 111/2 (Rory Burns 59*; Tim Southee 1-17) by 267 runs.