Anyone travelling to Lord’s for the fourth day of this first Test is advised to take their seat early, likewise those tuning it at home. A classic finish awaits and, given a series opener that has lurched one way and then the other, further twists are highly likely.
The equation could scarcely be on more of a knife-edge, even if the final stanza could well be swift. England are chasing 277 to start the reign of Ben Stokes with a bang and will resume on 216 for five, with Joe Root unbeaten on 77 and 61 runs required. The former captain looks in fine touch and has Ben Foakes for company on nine not out.
But New Zealand, hunting only a second Test victory at Lord’s in their history and a first since 1999, know that an early strike will expose an English tail that starts at No8 with the first of four rabbits. Their attack, albeit shorn of Colin de Grandhomme after an apparent heel injury, will be refreshed after a night’s sleep. It also features Kyle Jamieson, resuming with figures of four for 59, in a particularly incisive mood.
So much rests on the shoulders of Root but then when has it not over the past 18 months? The Yorkshireman emerged from the pavilion at 2.25pm with the scorecard a familiar 32 for two but over the course of two sessions he provided a soothing presence for those of a nervous disposition. Get his side over the line, with 15 overs until the new ball, and it will likely taste as sweet as any of the 27 victories secured in his old job.
Root was also one half of a fifth-wicket stand of 90 with Stokes that helped England push back against the marauding tourists. This owed plenty to a huge slice of good fortune early on, Stokes chopping De Grandhomme’s medium pace on to his stumps one run into an eventual score of 54, only to discover his fellow all-rounder had overstepped. It could yet prove the decisive moment of the match.
But then the same could also be said of another chaotic morning that featured the latest bullocking rampage from Stuart Broad. Daryl Mitchell had swiftly turned his overnight 97 into the century his efforts the previous day so richly deserved but New Zealand, having gone from 45 for seven in their first innings to 227 runs ahead and four wickets down in their second, lost six for 34 after falling prey to the charms of the second new ball.
Featuring much of the theatre of Broad’s most memorable surges, this time the 35-year-old’s remarkable ability to bend the script to his will produced the lesser-spotted team hat-trick. Mitchell was nicked off in classical fashion for 108, De Grandhomme was run out first ball by a direct hit from Ollie Pope, and then Jamieson’s off stump was instantly clattered to send the Lord’s crowd into a state of early delirium.
Pope’s shy from gully had shown excellent presence of mind – De Grandhomme’s failure to get back in his crease as England went up for an lbw less so – but chiefly this was vintage Broad. When Jimmy Anderson then got in on the act, thudding an inswinger into the pads of Tom Blundell on 96 to end his own dreams of the honours board, and the two debutants, Matt Potts and Matt Parkinson, mopped up the tail, New Zealand’s only progress had come through an agricultural 21 from Tim Southee.
Though an undoubted swing in momentum, England’s fightback still demanded a solid start from a top order that has been as flaky as a vol-au-vent in recent times. But while the initial burst from Trent Boult and Southee was negotiated, Kane Williamson’s introduction of the hulking Jamieson from the Nursery End produced a spell of nine overs, three for 24 either side of lunch that was irresistible.
It began with the removal of both openers. First went Alex Lees before the interval for 20, bowled offering no shot by one that nipped down the slope. Having initially batted outside off stump when the right-armers operated from around the wicket, the opener’s decision to then switch to a middle stump guard mid-innings appeared to affect his calibration. Then went Zak Crawley for nine in more understandable fashion, the victim of a fine delivery that bounced, took the edge and flew to Southee at gully.
With Pope’s first Test match at No3 ended by a corker from Boult on 10, the left-armer getting one to swing in from around the wicket, nip and uproot off stump, England were 46 for three and in need of resistance. As such, and despite a trio of crunched fours, it was another deflating moment for the crowd when a revved-up Jonny Bairstow was suckered into a loose drive by Jamieson on 16 and similarly bowled.
It meant Stokes striding out to the middle on his 31st birthday to join Root with 208 runs required. You could almost sense the desperation to play a defining hand and it wasn’t until the reprieve that came via De Grandhomme’s front foot that Stokes found any rhythm. The belated introduction of spinner Ajaz Patel also offered a chance to free his arms after tea, with three sixes heaved into the Grandstand.
No sooner had he brought up his half-century, Stokes perished to New Zealand’s siege weapon, Jamieson returning after a restorative break and profiting from an uppercut that was feathered behind. Still, he and Root had chiselled off a good chunk of the target, Foakes held firm in a wing-heeled stand of 57 and soon we will discover whether this results in a first victory as England captain.
