England closes at 258-7 as half a century of Rory Burns (81) and Dan Lawrence (67th) avoid another collapse; New Zealand reduced the hosts to 175-6 in front of 18,000 fans in Edgbaston before Lawrence’s intervention; Watch the second day from 10:15 am on Friday on Sky Sports Cricket
Dan Lawrence finished undefeated with 67 to help England overcome their fall in the afternoon session.
Dan Lawrence hit an undefeated 67 to bolster England’s total after the hosts threatened to collapse on the first day of Test 2 against New Zealand.
Rory Burns backed up his first Test 100 with 81 battles before Lawrence, supported by Olly Stone (20) and Mark Wood (16th), helped England rally from 175-6 to close at 258-7.
New Zealand made six changes to their squad ahead of the World Test Championship final next week, but, after breaking a starting position of 72 just after lunch, they dominated the afternoon session and Trent Boult hit twice the early evening session to leave England reeling. .
Lawrence stood his ground, however, and was backed by the lower order to give the 18,000 spectators in Edgbaston something to cheer on at the end of the day and give the home team hope of reaching 300 on the second day.
James Anderson was given a special jersey before the start of the game as he became England’s most capped test player, beating Sir Alastair Cook, and would have had the confidence to rest on the first day of his 162nd Test after that the hosts won the toss. he hit and reached lunch without missing a wicket.
Burns and Dom Sibley, both encouraged by races at Lord’s, rarely struggled in the morning session, dealing with the early swing and stitching motion that was offered on an easy-paced pitch as they hit 67 before the break.
However, it was a very different story early in the afternoon session, with England losing 3-13 in five overs; Sibley (35) got ahead of Tom Blundell, in place of the injured BJ Watling, in front of Matt Henry before Zak Crawley’s (0) difficult start to the summer of testing continued as he pushed a wide delivery from Neil Wagner and sent the ball to third slip. .
Joe Root (4), who received an enthusiastic reception from the Edgbaston crowd, was the third to leave when Henry again encountered a nuisance line on the outskirts, forcing the England captain to play and find the edge thanks to a hint of movement away from the right-hander.
That was the prized scalp and New Zealand celebrated accordingly, but, with Burns joined by Ollie Pope, the locals were able to regroup.
Burns went into his ninth half-century 141-ball test, but just when Pope (19) looked ready, he left, chasing a short and wide delivery from left arm spinner Ajaz Patel and punching behind to his own obvious chagrin. .
The rebuilding process began anew with Burns and Lawrence, who survived an lbw overhaul before it went off the mark, with the former giving the bustling local crowd something to cheer on, showing off a bit of flair while slapping Wagner. through the blankets for four shortly before. tea.
Once again, however, the Black Caps came firing after a break with Boult attacking in the third over after tea to eliminate Burns just as a hundred others came into view, a late swing that allowed the left arm to find the edge. outside and stand upright. in captain Tom Latham took a good low catch on the second slip.
Boult landed his second wicket with the first ball of his next over, James Bracey went for a golden duck when he was caught on the third slip while attempting a booming momentum, meaning the southpaw doesn’t have a test run yet to his name after two entries. – to expose a long tail from England with only 175 on the board.
However, after a series of loose shots from the higher and middle order, the lower order entrenched itself and Stone proved to be a more than capable helper to Lawrence, who seemed increasingly confident in the fold.
A couple of Stone limits took England past 200 and when Lawrence crossed two units to the fence on the first change after drinks, the association was 47.
That was it though, as Patel had Stone (20) lbw on the sweep, a decision confirmed in the review, but there was further frustration for New Zealand as Wood picked up where Stone had left off.
Even the second new ball couldn’t break through the stands with an overturned decision caught behind against Wood, the closest the visitors came to a breakthrough.
Lawrence was starting to have fun, nailing a couple more gorgeous drives on the Boult boundary, and even Wood got in on the act with a timed tackle from Henry running to bring in even more cheers from the fans early on. afternoon sun.
Watch the second day of the second test between England and New Zealand from 10.15am. M., Friday at Sky Sports Cricket.
