Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill power New Zealand to 303/2; Trail England by 86 runs on Day 2 of 1st Test at Lord’s

New Zealand have had an excellent day on the field today.

New Zealand finish Day Two of the First Test at Lord’s in command after half-centuries from Martin Guptill, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson has ensured that they finish at    against England. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are still unbeaten. New Zealand still trail England by England resumed the day at 354 for seven and were bowled out for 389, adding just 35 runs to their overnight score. Moeen Ali, who was batting on 49 at the end of Day One, was dismissed for 58, but England narrowly fell short of the 400-run mark. Trent Boult and Matt Henry finished with four wickets apiece. Full Updates: England vs New Zealand 2015, 1st Test at Lord’s, Day 2

New Zealand go into stumps with the momentum after they have dominated England right from the beginning of the day. England bowlers have found it hard through the day as Stuart Broad and off-spinner Moeen ali are the only two wicket-takers for the hosts. Openers Guptill and Latham were given early lifelines. Guptill was caught in the slips by Alastair Cook, but was adjudged not out as the bowler Mark Wood had overstepped. Latham was the next one to be given a let-off as Ian Bell dropped a simple catch at slips. Full Scorecard: England vs New Zealand, 1st Test, Day 2

England began Day One on the back foot as they were reduced to 30 for four early on in the innings. Joe Root and Ben Stokes played excellent counter-attacking cricket and went on to put on 161 runs for the fifth wicket, which got England back into the contest. Stokes then went for one shorts too many as he was cleaned up by off-spinner Mark Craig for a 94-ball 92. Root however carried on and built another excellent partnership with wicket keeper Jos Buttler, but missed out on a century by two runs.

Moeen Ali then joined Buttler at the crease and the duo ensured that the England innings did not lose any momentum, but Buttler was dismissed off the last ball of Day One for a fighting 67. England would have been happy at the end of the day considering that they were languishing at one stage. But New Zealand having picked up a wicket off the final ball, would have gone in with the momentum and they have not let go of it since Day Two began.

New Zealand on Day One had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Mark Wood makes his debut for England and Henry is a debutant for the Kiwis. This is the first of the Two Test series and both teams will look to get off to the best possible start.

Brief scores:

England 389 (Joe Root 98, Ben Stokes 92, Jos Buttler 67, Moeen Ali 58; Trent Boult 4 for 79, Matt Henry 4 for 93) lead New Zealand 303 for 2 (Martin Guptill 70, Kane Williamson 92*; Stuart Broad 1 for 42, Moeen Ali 1 for 52) by 86 runs.

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(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)