England nose ahead on spicy deck as NZ lose three in 254 chase

There was no rain interruption, but there wasn't any stoppage to the flow of wickets on . After 16 wickets fell on the opening day, 17 more fell on a spicy deck as England set New Zealand a challenging fourth-innings target of 254, with the visitors losing three wickets already in pursuit of it.

New Zealand began the day on their overnight score of 61/6, still 79 behind England's first innings score of 140. Josh Tongue struck off his first ball, flattening Glenn Phillips' off stump before Kyle Jamieson came out swinging, taking blows to his midriff and helmet in the process. Nathan Smith looked steady at his end but soon became the third batter in the Test to be out bowled shouldering arms, with Tongue getting the ball to nip back in viciously.

Jamieson slammed Ollie Robinson's short deliveries for a couple of sixes though and ate into the deficit. He chipped in with a handy cameo, stranded on an unbeaten 29-ball 38 as he top-scored for the visitors, taking them past 100. With the field set for the short ball, Gus Atkinson bluffed William O'Rourke and got him to nick the ball to second slip before Robinson cleaned up Matt Henry for his fifth wicket, entering the Honours Board at Lord's for the first time.

With a valuable 27-run lead in hand, England's openers began cautiously as Jamieson was on the money early on. Henry, who bowled just four overs in the first innings due to a back spasm, did not take the new ball but Nathan Smith was tidy. Lapses on the field hurt New Zealand again - Rachin Ravindra dropped his second catch in the Test, putting down a regulation chance at mid-wicket to hand Duckett a lifeline.

Duckett and Emilio Gay played the ball to its merit, rotating strike regularly with the former finding the odd boundary. Henry came on for a couple of overs before Lunch but he didn't start off at full tilt, operating at just over 125 kmph. Duckett greeted him with consecutive boundaries and pulled O'Rourke in the following over to raise the 50-run stand. He fell off the very next delivery though, guiding a full and wide one to Phillips who completed a low catch at gully. With Henry's speeds down, Tom Blundell stood up to the stumps. The ploy nearly worked as Jacob Bethell edged one, only for Daryl Mitchell to react late at slip.

Henry should have had Gay out leg before in the first over post Lunch, but the on-field call of not out was not challenged. Bethell looked in evident discomfort against the seaming ball, with O'Rourke giving him a serious workout against the short ball. Devon Conway dropped a sitter at backward point but Bethell was soon put out of his misery as a back of a length delivery from Henry grubbed excruciatingly low to bowl him. Gay held fort at the other end, playing the ball late and picking his moments. He did ride his luck with a late glide past gully but also added two more boundaries off a Nathan Smith over while bringing up his Test fifty.

Shortly after though, the collapse came. Gay nicked behind off Nathan before Harry Brook was dismissed LBW for a duck by an in-ducker from O'Rourke. Nathan then landed a double-whammy, trapping Joe Root leg before in his crease with another ball jagging back in sharply. In the same over, he produced one of the deliveries of the Test to hit the top of off from around the wicket, sending Ben Stokes back for a duck as England sank from 126/2 to 127/6.

Jamie Smith led England's recovery - his first two boundaries were fortuitous ones off the outside edge but he soon settled in, cracking a glorious punch through the covers off O'Rourke. He motored along with Atkinson giving him good company. Post Tea, the partnership went past fifty with Jamie continuing to look in fluent touch. But a moment of brainfade saw Atkinson hack a short ball across the line to hand Jamieson a simple return catch.

Robinson came out attacking, swatting the ball down the ground and getting a top-edge that flew fine. He added useful runs though before Nathan Smith removed his namesake at the other end as Jamie had no answer to an in-ducker that kept incredibly low, further underlining the uneven bounce the surface had to offer. Robinson took England's lead past 250, before Nathan struck twice to finish with a six-fer as England were bowled out, setting New Zealand a stiff target on a surface with enough demons in it.

The chase could not have begun worse: Atkinson had Tom Latham fishing well outside the off stump, nabbing him for a duck. Kane Williamson's outside edge was put to test before he grew in confidence with his defence, also greeting Tongue with a delightful off-drive. At the other end, Conway looked edgy, failing to time the ball while an uppish drive fell short of cover. England's quicks operated on a probing radar though and Tongue trapped Williamson in front, the latter beaten on the outside edge to be pinned on the back foot. He took a review with him, following which O'Rourke, on night-watchman duties, was bowled at the stroke of Stumps, leaving New Zealand with 218 more runs to get with seven wickets in hand.

: England 140 & 226 (Emilio Gay 57, Jamie Smith 39; Nathan Smith 6-70, William O'Rourke 2-45) lead New Zealand 113 (Kyle Jamieson 38*; Ollie Robinson 5-39, Josh Tongue 3-40) & 36/3 (Devon Conway 12*; Gus Atkinson 2-10) by 217 runs.