Lord’s Test: Rory Burns, Joe Root steady England after Devon Conway special on Day 2

Captain Joe Root and opener Rory Burns led England’s recovery on Day 2 of the Test series opener against New Zealand at the Lord’s on Thursday. After a record-setting double hundred by Devon Conway, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson jolted England with two early wickets but the captain-opener pair steered the hosts to safety at Stumps.

England finished the day on 111 for 2 after Root and Burns added 93 runs for the 3rd wicket. Senior pacer Southee, who is leading the New Zealand attack in the absence of Trent Boult, picked up opener Dom Sibley for nought after which tall Jamieson got Dan Lawrence for 2.

ENG vs NZ, Lord’s Test: Day 2 Highlights

England were reeling at 18 for 2 but Joe Root and Rory Burns played with a lot of patience as they came up with gritty knock, much to the relief of the English crowd at the iconic venue. While Root remained unbeaten on 42, Burns hit 59 not out. England will hope their well-set pair can continue on Friday as they trail New Zealand’s first-innings total of 378 but 267 runs.

Joe Root and his men would be the happier of the two sides despite Conway’s double hundred, which was only the 7th by a batsman on his Test debut. While New Zealand dominated Day 1, England were able to wrap up New Zealand’s innings after hurting their lower-middle order.

The dismissal of Henry Nicholls for 61 triggered New Zealand collapse from 288-3 to 319-8, which included a six-over spell by Mark Wood where the paceman took three wickets for seven runs.

Ollie Robinson, on Test debut, had England’s best bowling figures of 4-75. After stumps on Wednesday, the pacer was close to tears as he apologized for a string of sexist and racist messages that he posted on Twitter from 2012-14 and which resurfaced over social media while the game was being played.

Conway gets standing ovation from Lord’s crowd

Devon Conway though received a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd after he was run-out on 200. He had an entertaining stand with No. 11 Neil Wagner who hit a quickfire 25. Conway reached his double-century with a pull for six and was out without facing another ball.

Conway’s 200 is also the 3rd highest Test score by a left-handed batsman on debut. Conway went past Shikhar Dhawan’s tally of 187. Only Rudolph (222) and Mayers (210) have hit more runs than the New Zealand opener in their first match in whites at the international level.

Conway came up with a chanceless innings, hitting 22 boundaries and a lone six.