England edged closer to victory over New Zealand in the first Test despite a day of frustration brought on by persistent rain.
Ollie Robinson’s two wickets in the brief passages of play that were possible at Lord’s mean England need five more wickets to win when play is set to resume on day four on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
New Zealand will have work to do on 55-5 in their second innings, needing another 199 runs to secure just their second Test win at Lord’s.
Only 9.4 overs were possible on the third day, which followed a whirlwind 17 wickets falling on day two.
New Zealand had resumed on 36-3 when play finally got under way at 1pm. It came after the entire morning session was lost to a combination of sharp showers but also the outfield needing time to dry out despite prolonged periods of bright sunshine.
It led to a bizarre quirk of the playing conditions where an early lunch was taken at 12.20pm, which coincided with the brightest and driest conditions of the day and caused much frustration among spectators and pundits.
Sky Sports presenter Ian Ward called the situation “ludicrous” as he referenced how golf tee-times are altered and the timing of F1 races shifted in the event of wet weather.
“There is heavy rain forecast from about 1pm, certainly from 3pm, and no action is going to take place while the sun is shining. That is cricket in a nutshell sometimes, I’m afraid,” he said.
When play did finally start, a couple of brief interruptions followed before Robinson snared the wickets of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell in successive overs.
Rachin Ravindra was bowled by Robinson for eight
Ravindra (8) had his off-stump clipped by one that nipped away before Mitchell (0) was trapped leg before and fell the wrong side of an umpire’s call on review to leave the tourists on 53-5, still 201 runs shy of victory.
But rain soon returned as Tom Blundell (2no) joined Devon Conway (19no) at the crease and would remain until late into the afternoon when the decision was finally taken at 5.29pm to abandon the day’s play.
‘England stronger favourites now’
Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton:
“The cricket we have seen today with the combination of heavy cloud, the lights on and the pitch, has made batting difficult. The ball nipped.
“New Zealand weren’t favourites at the start of play and England are even stronger favourites now.
“Taking lunch when we did was curious, but it has been impossible this afternoon [to get any more play in] with the rain and the gloom.
“This is a really important Test match and series for England because of the way The Ashes went and the criticism management received for the mistakes that were made.
“To play well and get the right result – which you think they would get now – [would be a good start].”
England captain Ben Stokes reacts as he leaves the field after one of several rain delays on the third day of the first Test
Pundits share fans’ frustrations amid day of delays
Sky Sports Cricket’s Mel Jones:
“As a sport we can’t quite get this right. We will probably finish the summer and then come back and have the same conversation again.
“As frustrating as the rain is, I think people are more frustrated that the leaders of the sport cannot find a way to alleviate the situation.”
Sky Sports Cricket’s Nasser Hussain also spoke after play began at 1pm but then stopped again after 11 balls as rain returned:
“Maybe the umpires wanted to give the players time to warm up but in the sunniest part of the day we had lunch. That was a bizarre decision.
“When the weather was good we were eating, when the weather was bad we tried to play cricket. That can’t make sense for people.
“A Saturday at Lord’s has a different feel and people have waited all week to come.”
Watch day four of the first Test between England and New Zealand live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 10.15am on Sunday. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
