England in commanding position after frantic second day against New Zealand at Lord’s

England looked set to banish memories of their Ashes blowout in Perth as they traded blows with New Zealand on a frantic second day at Lord’s.

The first Rothesay Test of the summer became eerily familiar as England suffered a drastic collapse after reaching the lunch break 99 runs ahead with just one wicket down.

That was the exact position they tossed away at the Optus Stadium in November, a defeat which paved the way for a demoralising tour, and history was threatening to repeat itself as they lost four wickets for one run in 11 game-changing deliveries.

They veered from 126 for two to 127 for six on a fiendishly difficult pitch, debutant Emilio Gay falling for a hard-fought 57 before Harry Brook (nought), Joe Root (eight) and Ben Stokes (nought) followed in a whirlwind of activity.

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Commanding position

In Perth they were beaten by stumps but this time had Jamie Smith to thank for a plucky 39, lifting them to 226 all out and setting the tourists a tough target of 254 to win.

Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue then left the Black Caps 36 for three at the close, to hand the home side a commanding position after a dizzying 17-wicket day.

It began with England turning New Zealand’s overnight score of 61 for six into 113 all out – enough to lead a low-scoring contest by 27.

Tongue set the tone for another bowler-friendly day by knocking over Glenn Phillips’ off stump with his first ball of the morning then jagging one dramatically off the pitch to bowl Nathan Smith.

Error count

Some ill-judged short balls allowed the 6ft 8in Kyle Jamieson to thrash 38 but the Kiwis still lasted less than 30 overs, Ollie Robinson bowling last man Matt Henry to secure a spot on the honours board with career-best figures of five for 39.

By lunch, England had carved a strong position for themselves at 72 for one, perfectly recreating their position six months earlier in Western Australia.

Ben Duckett, dropped on 12 by the wasteful Rachin Ravindra, was the man to go for 33 but Gay showed admirable nerve to navigate a tough new-ball examination.

He would have been out for 24 in the first over of the afternoon had New Zealand reviewed an lbw shout and the error count ratcheted up when Devon Conway spilled Jacob Bethell on eight, his second drop and New Zealand’s fourth of the match.

Dramatic twist

Bethell’s good luck did not last, though, bowled by a filthy shin-high grubber from Henry before he had a chance to cash in.

Gay never looked entirely at ease but eked out the highest score of a bowler-dominated match as well as the longest knock of 95 balls.

The next dramatic twist was just around the corner, though, beginning when Gay nicked a beauty as he tried to cover off stump.

Mayhem followed close behind, with England’s experienced engine room wiped out in fast forward.

Brook overbalanced as O’Rourke had him lbw for a four-ball duck, Root was clipped in front of leg by the next ball from Nathan Smith and Stokes’ lean streak continued as he was clean bowled past his outside edge without scoring.

Cool heads

The game was slipping away and it took cool heads, from Jamie Smith and his Surrey team-mate Atkinson, to halt New Zealand.

They rebuilt soundly either side of the tea break, Smith with the occasional flourish, to tease out 57 runs – the highest stand of the match.

Nathan Smith accounted for both as he finished with six for 70, Jamie Smith the latest to fall foul of one kept low.

Chasing the biggest score of the match always looked a long shot for New Zealand and they could not keep their heads above water.

Letting the pitch do the work, Atkinson picked off skipper Tom Latham and nightwatcher O’Rourke, while Tongue rapped the experienced Kane Williamson.

READ MORE: Ollie Robinson takes five wickets as England seize control against New Zealand on day two