It was another gripping day of Test Cricket at Lord’s on Saturday, 5 June. The day’s play was primarily dominated by New Zealand, but thanks to a washout on the previous day and then England's wagging tail, a draw looms large.
In reply to New Zealand’s 378, England were reduced to 140/6 after resuming Day 4 on 111/2 on Day 4. Rory Burns (132) hung in, along with the lower-order batters, and took England to a face-saving 275.
For the visitors, Tim Southee swung the ball both ways to take 6-43. He was ably supported by Kyle Jamieson (3-85), while Neil Wagner claimed Stuart Broad (10).
After conceding a lead of 103, the English seamers stepped up with some accurate bowling in the second innings and made the final session watchable. Thanks to their efforts, New Zealand ended the day at 62/2. They lead by 165.
Debutant Ollie Robinson continued to impress with both bat and ball. On Day 4, after contributing with a valuable 42, the Kent pacer bowled 9 overs, gave away only 8 runs and claimed the wicket of first innings double centurion Devon Conway along with the prized scalp of Kane Williamson.
Day 5: What to expect
The Met department has predicted a cloudy day in London. However, the chances of a precipitation is pretty low. Hence, we can expect the entire overs to be bowled in the day’s play.
If New Zealand wish to force a result here, they first need to bat England out of this Test match. With the amount of time remaining in the game, a lead of around 320-350 should be enough. Thus, New Zealand need to score at least 150 more runs before declaring. If they get these in the first session, the bowlers can come out all guns blazing.
Now, here lies an important question.
Will Williamson push that much harder for a result in this game? Or will they be happy to score the psychological points only? Let us not forget that these two Test matches are a standalone series, and are not part of a greater tournament.
They will play the World Test Championship Final against India after this. Pushing for that extra bit may lead to unforeseen injuries, especially to the fast bowlers. The New Zealand team management would want to avoid that ahead of the big ticket fixture in Southampton later this month.
Hence, we can expect New Zealand to play conservatively and go with the flow in this final day of the Lord’s Test.