In the Lord s Pavilion, England and New Zealand were left kicking their heels after rain prevented any play on the third day of the first Test.
All the day the pitch and square were remained fully covered and the umpires were following an inspection while the rain was still falling.
A look for the umpires but still rain around at the @HomeOfCricket #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/rGna6bXc06
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 4, 2021
Management announced at 4:31 pm that there was no prospect of play before the cut-off time for a re-start of 6:00 pm.
The game is set to resume at 11:00 am on Saturday, with 98 overs, as opposed to the standard 90 scheduled to be bowled in a bid to help and compensate for Friday’s play.
Play has been abandoned at Lord's 🌦️
Persistent rain has meant a washout on day three.
Play will resume at 11am local time on the fourth morning. #ENGvNZ | https://t.co/PyjT1jqj3I pic.twitter.com/W4EctyDEhs
— ICC (@ICC) June 4, 2021
The game is intriguingly poised, with England 111-2 in reply to New Zealand’s first-innings 378 that featured debutant ‘Devon Conway’ 200, the highest score by a batsman making his Test bow in England.
England was 267 runs behind, slumped to 18-2 before ending the second day with ‘Rory Burns’ 59 not out and England captain ‘Joe Root’ 42 not out following an unbroken stand of 93.
New Zealand looked like batting England out of the game while South Africa-born opener ‘Conway’ and fellow left-hander ‘Henry Nicholls’ (61) were sharing a fourth-wicket partnership of 174.
But New Zealand lost four wickets for just six runs as they slumped from 288-3 to 294-7, with Mark Wood, the fastest member of England’s pace quartet, instigating a collapse.
In the meantime, Test debutant paceman ‘Ollie Robinson’ led England s attack with 4-75 in the first of this two-Test series.
The second Test is due to take place at Birmingham s Edgbaston from 10th June to 14th June.
New Zealand will then remain in England to face India in the first World Test Championship final at Hampshire s Ageas Bowl.
[embedpost slug=”muhammad-wasim-announced-squad-for-england-west-indies-tour/”]