ENG vs NZ Live Score, 1st Test 2026: England five wickets away from victory

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Gus serves it on a length and just around off, Conway strides forward to cover the line and leaves this time.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, At 86 mph, this is pitched on a good length around off and kicks on sharply after striking the seam. Conway is drawn into a tentative push, feeling for the ball outside his body line, but it zips past the bat. A lively delivery that carries through nicely to the keeper.

4 months adrift - Eagerly awaiting October 1. Among the newly proposed rules by the ICC, one of them is to swap to pink balls in Test matches, if the conditions become overcast and floodlights need to be switched on. The lights are on in full effect at the Home Of Cricket and the last thing we need now is for players to walk off the field for bad light.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Bowled on a length and outside off, an easy leave for Ravindra again.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Robinson delivers it on a good length, close to off, and there is some extra bounce as Rachin Ravindra leaves it alone. Jamie Smith collects the ball near his face. We have seen plenty of uneven bounce in this game already.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Inviting length, there to be driven outside off, Ravindra watches closely, makes sure that it's not nipping in to target his pads and then leaves it alone.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Identical to the last delivery and once again Rachin Ravindra offers the same treatment. He is calm on the back foot and blocks it safely towards point.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, This is on a testing length just outside off, Ravindra presses forward and plays with soft hands, presenting a slightly angled bat face. He guides the ball towards point.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, On and around off, shaping away a touch, Devon Conway plays late and dabs it towards point. They take a quick run.

Gus Atkinson to Rachin Ravindra, In the zone outside off, Rachin leaves it to complete the over.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Taps a length ball down to covers and takes a single.

Tom and Jerry show begins - One runs, the other tries to catch. One of our most celebrated cartoons in our childhood. Or even now. The weather is doing the same to us. We are trying to have some action but the weather is trying to drive us out of the ground. Let's hope we stay for a bit longer this time.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, NO BALL AND FOUR! That's aerial but safe. Full and outside off, Conway slices his attempted drive and his bottom hand comes off the handle. The ball flies over gully-point and finds the fence.

12.22 pm GMT resumption time! Covers coming off? Well, that's what we are hearing! Nasser Hussain mentioned that we might have missed the best weather window, which was during the time Lunch was being taken. But it seems like the weather is showing some kindness to all of us. It just seems like play might resume soon, but this is England. Before we can type resume, the job might get cancelled. As of now, the resumption time is 12.22 pm GMT.

Bizarre decision? Well, that's what Nasser Hussain feels on air, regarding the umpires' decision to call for an early Lunch, when the conditions were bright and sunny. But let's not forget, there are always multiple angles to one story. It is easy to say that play should have started at around, say 11.30 am GMT and carried on, with Lunch being scrapped. Logical thinking. But what we don't know is, what was the exact talk between the groundstaff and the umpires. From what we can assume, we feel that the groundstaff might have requested for around 30-40 minutes of time to clear the outfield. Remember, it has been raining since morning today. And looking at that, the umpires might have felt it best to take the Lunch break, since play would not have been possible any which ways. Till we get the full story, unwise to comment on anything. For now, we can just request these unwanted visitors to leave.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Going in again - 12.07 pm update - 'Rain coming in now, from the southwest', another update from Nasser Hussain. The umpires have a look at the heavens, but play goes on. In fact, it does not, as the umpires have called for the covers. So after just 11 balls of play, we are back to waiting. The score has moved by a smidgeon, with a run added to the tally and now, the brollies have started to open up in the stands. The rain is getting heavier by the minute.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Hurls a length ball outside off, Conway guards his stumps and shoulders arms.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Lands it on a good length around off, shaping in a touch. Conway gets forward and presents the full face of the bat, easing it towards cover. There is a brief thought of a single, but a quick 'wait, wait' sends Rachin Ravindra back as the fielder moves smartly around the ball.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Pulls his length back a bit, around off, Devon Conway goes on the back foot and defends it to the off side.

'The rain has stopped', quips Mel Jones on air. Helpful. There is a bit of blue overhead. Helpful again. But three-fourths of the sky is engulfed with grey skies. Not helpful.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Atkinson goes full and angles it around off, Devon is on the front foot as he drives firmly. It goes back to the bowler, and Gus Atkinson collects it nicely.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, On middle and leg, Ravindra works it towards mid-wicket.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Got him, gone! Nope. My ears are twitching. Full and just outside off, Rachin Ravindra pushes at it and there is a noise as the ball shoots past the outside edge. But that did not possibly hit the bat as no one appealed.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, The first run of the day. Slightly full outside off, DC pushes it towards cover point and the two batters scamper across.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, On a good length, decent bounce outside off, Devon shoulders arms.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, This one nips back in a long way. Conway lunges again but misses his tick, to get hit on the stomach.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, Full and around off, Devon Conway leans and pushes it towards cover.

Ollie time? Without a doubt. Ollie Robinson will bowl from the other end, hunting for his first wicket in this innings.

Gus Atkinson to Rachin Ravindra, Ohoy! We have a ball in play! On a length, around off, Ravindra, who is on a pair, bunts it out. 

All set to play? We certainly hope so. The clock is about to tick past 1 pm local and the players are on the field for the first time today. However, some unwanted dark clouds have come in to spoil the fun. As long as they don't burst open, we can have some sort of action happening. Nothing is worse than sitting and just waiting for something to happen, but seeing nothing happen. Rachin Ravindra has come in at number 5, replacing the night watchman, Will O'Rourke, to join Devon Conway. Gus Atkinson will complete his over, but even before we can start, Nasser Hussain murmurs, 'It has started to rain.' Here we go again...

Ollie's London love - We are not too far from resumption (hopefully) and one bowler who would be eager to get things rolling is Ollie Robinson. Making a Test comeback after 2 years and picking up his first wicket after nearly 3 years would have given him immense pleasure. Add to it, of his 81 wickets in Tests, 33 have come in London (Lord's and Oval), which makes it a shade less than 50 percent. Delving further, 21 of those 33 have come at Lord's alone, with his lowest tally in an innings being 2 wickets! He would want to make use of the momentum and try and wrap this match tonight itself, hoping that we get at least 40 overs of play.

Runs galore in Mullanpur - 100 for KL Rahul. 103 for Shubman Gill and ongoing. 81 for Sai Sudharsan. 50 for Rishabh Pant and ongoing. Not unexpected, but Afghanistan would be happy with a bit of respite from the schooling that they have been given on the opening day of the only Test against India. After electing to bat, the hosts have piled on a mammoth 368/3 in 85 overs, with their only disappointment being Yashasvi Jaiswal missing out. Of course, critics will point at Rahul and Sudharsan not carrying on and getting bigger scores but as a team, India would be relatively pleased. A 600-plus score seems to be on the cards, with the second aim being to pick a couple of Afghan wickets before close on Sunday. Azmatullah Omarzai was the only bowler who seemed to keep the hosts under some sort of a leash while the rest of the inexperienced attack got put to the sword.

Lunch time! Technically, the first session has not been entirely washed out but the scorecards will not say so. As mentioned earlier, the groundstaff has had a discussion with the umpires and convinced the latter to call for an early Lunch, with the second session scheduled to start at Noon GMT. Of course, when this decision was being made, the conditions were bright and sunny and hopes were not shied of expecting a clear day for the remaining two sessions. If one of the peers in our group is to be believed, Saturday is forecast to have the worst weather of all the five days and looking at the radar, it seems like a massive wet band is approaching the ground, which puts the rest of the day in jeopardy. But since we don't play for the weather, the ECB has released the revised timings for today (In GMT) - Session 2 - Noon-1510. Tea - 1510-1530. Session 3 - 1530-1800. Buffer - Additional 30 minutes to make up for pending overs. As many as 86 overs are scheduled for the day! Wow. Bangladesh would willingly accept this challenge of bowling so many overs in a shorter stipulated time. All the best!

Eeni Meeni Miini Moh - 10.45 am GMT update - Remember this rhyme from our childhood days? Was fun, wasn't it? The weather at Lord's seems to be just like that. The sun is back in full glory and once again, the groundstaff is back at work. Have to feel for them, as the moment they are in their rhythm of removing the water on the covers, back comes the rain. Sometimes, feel like asking the clouds - Either stay or go away. What do you have in mind? Meanwhile, the official update from Lord's is that Early Lunch will be taken at 11.20 am GMT. Common sense has prevailed here, with the first session as good as being washed out, might as well take the break early.

Time for a radical change? Sometimes it takes a good hit to understand the path you are treading. That time, you do feel that it is better to go one step back and then leap two steps ahead. Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had set out on a path to change the mindset of English cricket. They succeeded for a brief period, with most of that success coming by making the tracks batting friendly. India did give them a test to think about their approach away from home, but that seemed to be a one-off case. However, the recent Ashes debacle has got them thinking again, trying to bring the bowlers into play rather than batters simply bashing the ball to all parts. This Test has been a real test for all batters and even though the hosts have been found wanting in their own conditions with the bat, what it has unearthed is - a lively bowling attack which was termed as pretty weak after the retirements of Anderson and Broad. It might just be a couple of days old, but to inflict wounds on the opposition despite Jofra Archer being absent is a good sign for future. Of course, a pancake most likely awaits us at The Oval for the second Test, but this performance will definitely give the bowling group plenty of confidence. After all, as the famous seers say - It is bowlers who win you Tests, don't they?

Game stopped due to : Wet Ground Condition

Raining now - 10.30 am GMT update - We are not going to start anytime soon, that's for sure. From gloomy to sunny to a mizzle to proper heavy rain now, it seems like the morning session is pretty closed to getting wiped out. We understand that there are around 90 minutes left in this session, but given that the groundstaff need close to an hour to get the ground ready after it stops raining, we might as well assume the worst. Get on your tea, biscuits or anything else that you might like for a snack and be ready to bed in for a longggg day.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Hide and seek -  10 am GMT update - Oh dear. The clouds have returned and the covers are back on, as a drizzle has started to go around the ground. We get into a deeper delay now. 

Gone with the wind - 9.50 am GMT update - From China, we get back to England. We get back to a phrase from English. Almost as if never happened, the gloomy skies have given way to a sunny atmosphere. The groundstaff is quick to get to work and the hopes also get brightened up of a quick resumption. Fingers crossed. 

Game stopped due to : Wet Ground Condition

The good rain knows when to fall - Lines from a poem by the famous Chinese poet, Du Fu. We are hearing that it's gloomy and overcast in London, covers firmly on the pitch and squares, and with just around ten minutes to go for the first ball, a timely start on Day 3 looks unlikely. Here's hoping the delay isn't a long one. Stay tuned for further updates from Lord's.

What's the hurry? Absolutely none. New Zealand have got 9 sessions to bat and if they bat for even half of those, they should reach the target. But they will need to grind it out. This is definitely not an easy pitch to bat on, with only two blokes getting to a half century and the highest score being 57. England seemingly were in comfort on two occasions on Friday - against the new ball and then once the ball got softer. However, to allow the home side add 99 runs for the last 4 wickets in its second innings despite a collapse earlier, might just come back to haunt the Kiwis. Just imagine - shave off even 70 runs out of 254 and suddenly, the contest looks more balanced. It can still turn out to be, if the visitors can have a wicketless morning session. That would solve two problems - wear off the new ball and take off close to 100 runs from the target. Let's see how the third day begins.

Another short story? Seems like it. Factor these - 1st Match - 1884 - Eng vs Aus - Match ended in 3 days with England winning by an innings and 5 runs.  25th Match - 1935 - Eng vs SA - Match ended in 3 days, in addition to a rest day, with South Africa winning by a massive margin of 157 runs.  50th Match - 1965 - Eng vs SA - Match ended in a 5-day draw, in addition to a rest day, with England unable to chase a target of 191 on the final day, falling 46 runs short.  75th Match - 1983 - Eng vs NZ - Match ended in 4 days, in addition to a rest day, with England winning comprehensively by 127 runs.  100th Match - 2000 - Eng vs WI - Match ended in 3 days with England just about scraping past a target of 188 with just 2 wickets in hand.  125th Match - 2012 - Eng vs SA - Match lasted the distance of 5 days, with England falling short of an imposing target of 346 by just 51 runs, in the final session. These are the previous 6 milestone matches at Lord's, in which, thrice has a Test match ended in 3 days. Additionally, only 4 times has a team successfully chased down a target in excess of 250 in the 4th innings here, in the previous 53 occasions.