Rory Burns-Joe Root stand keeps Test evenly balanced

Cricket
Report

All the updates, news and stats from day two of the first Test at Lord’s

Welcome to day one of our live report of the first Test between England and New Zealand from Lord’s. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here.

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local

10.35am: Back to Plan A… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

England’s Mark Wood, one of those fast bowlers who’s got to strap on the spikes again today, has been speaking before play about the experience of bowling to Devon Conway – the two had a decent scrap, with Wood upping the pace and hitting Conway a couple of times, only for the batter to come through unscathed.

“He played some amazing shots, to play the way he did on debut was outstanding. Was a thorn in my side all day, I never felt we were on top of him. Hopefully he’s a little bit tired today, or more tired than we are and we can get him early on. We’ve got plans in the dressing room, as we do for every batsman, Plan A, Plan B. But unfortunately Plan A, B, C, D and E didn’t quite work yesterday, so maybe start on Plan A again and see if that works.”

Wood admitted it was “a tough day overall”, but said England would be aiming to control the scoring and continue to chip away. Of his own bowling, which saw the speed gun up at 96mph, he suggested that the number in the wickets column was more important.

“If we can get a couple of quick wickets this morning, the whole complexion of the match changes – they could easily have been 300-320 [yesterday] with Lord’s being fast-scoring. It was very difficult [to find] the [right] length on this wicket. At Lord’s we’ve talked about being fuller and trying to hit the knee roll, but actually the fuller length seemed to bring Conway [into it], some of his drives were beautiful. So this morning, drag that length back, still hitting the top of the stumps, I think that’ll be key.

“When it’s clicking you certainly feel it – but I’d rather bowl slower and get five wickets. The key today is not how quickly I bowl but how well I bowl, can I get some wickets and get us back in the game. I’m giving it everything I’ve got, as the speed gun suggests. If I keep giving it my all, hopefully I’ll get the rewards today.

10.35am: Conway Part Deux

1:02

Devon Conway: It'll take a few days for debut ton to sink in

Devon Conway: It’ll take a few days for debut ton to sink in

Hello, and good morning. Hope you bounced out of bed like a man sitting on 136 not out overnight… rather than a fast bowler who’s shortly got to pull their boots on and go again. If a certain Danish brewer made Test debuts, they’d still have had to pull out all the stops for Devon Conway. A century in whites for the Black Caps, almost four years after setting off on the road from Gauteng to Wellington – Conway admitted last night it was more than he could ever had dreamed of. But his fun’s not over yet, and England’s footsore seamers are going to have to have another crack, with New Zealand already well placed and looking for a first-innings position from which they can dictate the game.

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

Products You May Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *