06/06/26 09:55:00
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06/06 09:54 CDT Rain chaos stalls England at Lord's as New Zealand slumps to
55-5 chasing 254
Rain chaos stalls England at Lord's as New Zealand slumps to 55-5 chasing 254
By FOSTER NIUMATA
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) --- Rain frustrated England's charge to victory against New Zealand
in their test series opener at a damp Lord's on Saturday.
Fast bowler Ollie Robinson took the only two wickets in the 9.4 overs of play
allowed to tea and New Zealand was reduced to 55-5 in its second innings in an
unlikely pursuit of a 254-run target on a stop-start day three.
England was five wickets away from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-test series.
Play on a grim, grey Saturday didn't start for two hours, and then was broken
up by three more bouts of rain, the last of them just after 2 p.m. eventually
prompting an early tea.
The unpredictable seamers' paradise of a pitch continued to offer movement
every which way and, on Saturday, considerable lift. The batters, 35 of whom
have fallen in less than two days of normal play, had little hope.
New Zealand's chase was undermined out of the gate on Friday when it was 36-3
by stumps. At that point, one stats provider put England's chances of winning
at 80%, and that percentage was closer to 100 on Saturday afternoon.
Opener Devon Conway, on 12 overnight, was joined by Rachin Ravindra. He avoided
a king pair --- golden ducks in both innings --- and a regulation pair and took
10 more balls to get off the mark.
But Ravindra was undone on 8 by a peach that Robinson got to nip away,
completing a test to forget for the Kiwi, who also dropped two catches.
He was replaced by Daryl Mitchell, who was out for a three-ball duck when
Robinson rapped him on the front pad, confirmed by video.
Conway, who scored 200 on his test debut at Lord's in 2021, scratched out 19
from 55 balls, and Tom Blundell was beside him on 2.
Robinson had 2-18 and his sixth and seventh wickets in his comeback match.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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