ENG vs NZ | 1st Test Day 2: Rory Burns-Joe Root stabilise hosts after Conway's historic double ton

A solid half-century from Rory Burns and an equal in control innings from Joe Root stabilised England at the end of the second day’s play at Lord’s. Burns batted with assured footwork and awareness about his off stump and showed signs of coming back to his best at the international stage after a slump in the winter overseas. 

Joe Root found himself early in the middle yet again with the opener Dom Sibley and the number three Zak Crawley going back to the pavilion fairly early in the piece but he provided his side with a much-needed calm head.

Sibley could not recover from the slump and was undone by a nip backer from Kyle Jamieson, who was sharing the new ball with Tim Southee in the absence of Trent Boult. 

Crawley, on the other hand, was drawn into driving a fuller ball that was not pitched in his half from Southee in a manner that former England skipper and now a notable voice of the game Michael Atherton termed as ‘intelligent bowling but naive batting.’

Burns was up to the task from the word go and having scored a decent amount of runs in the county championship leading up to this Test was clearly visible in his confident front foot strides against Southee and Jamieson. As innings progressed and he grew in confidence, he took on the short ball off Neil Wagner as well.

New Zealand bowlers were there and thereabouts but and asked continuous questions of English batsmen.

The day though once again belonged to Devon Conway, who went from strength to strength and converted his hundred on Test debut to a double hundred with an equally disciplined display of batting around the off stump and flair against balls he believed he could latch on to.

The day started on a dream note for the Blackcaps as the unbeaten pair of Conway and Henry Nicholls carried on from where they had left on the last day. Nicholls was as watchful as he was on the first day and reached an attritional half-century before Mark Wood brought England back with a superlative display of pace bowling.

He first sent Nicholls back to the pavilion on a rising short delivery that cramped him for room while attempting to glide it between the fine leg and square leg fielder. 

He followed it up with a classical full-pitched at pace delivery that found BJ Watling playing from the crease and New Zealand looked shaky after a formidable start to the day. 

Ollie Robinson joined in the party trapping Collin de Grandhomme in front of the wicket and bouncing out the tall man Jamieson with a well-laid trap set in cohesion with Joe Root.

Conway needed someone to stick around with him and he found a partner in Wagner but he was not defensive by any means. He played some crisp shots that beat some of Conway’s shots as well and a drive on the up off Stuart Broad for six was all that the bowler required to realise the first bowling effort of the summer has not gone well at all.

At the end of the second day, the game is perfectly poised and the first two sessions tomorrow should dictate the flow of the game and should also decide which side will take their noses ahead in the first Test of the English summer.