Ollie Robinson tightened England’s grip on the first Rothesay Test against New Zealand, edging the hosts two wickets closer to victory despite a near washout of a third day at Lord’s.
Persistent rain meant just under 10 overs were possible at the home of cricket, parcelled out between three separate passages of play in the afternoon, but that was still enough time for Robinson to continue his memorable reintroduction.
Having waited more than two years for his 21st cap, the Sussex captain was not content with career-best figures of five for 39 in the first innings and took it on himself to lead the victory charge.
He cleaned up Rachin Ravindra for four and nailed Daryl Mitchell lbw as his dream comeback continued to deliver, leaving the tourists 55 for five chasing 254 at Lord’s.
The 32-year-old needs just one more to take eight wickets in a Test for the first time and would surely have done so had the weather not intervened. After wiping out the morning’s play, it returned shortly after Robinson’s double strike and never relented.
The forecast is more optimistic for day four, with the Black Caps needing 199 more on a pitch that has been unrelentingly vicious for batting. Of the 35 wickets to fall so far, there have been 21 single-figure scores, eight ducks and 11 instances of clean-bowled dismissals.
With irregular bounce and elaborate seam movement still on offer, making the highest total of the match looks a distant prospect. New Zealand’s not out pair may yet harbour some belief given their past efforts at Lord’s, where Devon Conway scored a double century on debut five years ago and Tom Blundell made 96 in 2022.
After a morning of solid rain, the decision to take an early lunch just as the brightest skies of the day rolled in caused plenty of head-scratching. Play eventually got under way at 1pm, two hours behind schedule, with exactly 11 deliveries possible before more showers intervened.
The next window was only slightly more engaging, totalling 15 wicketless minutes, but England finally found some momentum at the third time of asking. After a brief burst in front of the pavilion, Robinson returned to the Nursery End and picked up where he had left off with his first-innings five-for.
The Lord’s pitch has attracted plenty of scrutiny, and sharp criticism from former captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain, and Robinson continued to take advantage as he snaked one past Ravindra’s outside edge and into the top of off stump.
Ravindra made a point of suggesting he had been undone by low bounce too, the latest in a long line of unhappy victims. Robinson, on the other hand, would surely love to roll the pitch up and take it with him all summer. He was back for more in his next over, trapping Mitchell lbw without troubling the scorers.
Once again the ball deviated sharply off the surface, with the decision to bring wicketkeeper Jamie Smith up to the stumps also playing its part in anchoring Mitchell to his crease. It was a close one, just clipping leg, but DRS ruled in Robinson’s favour.
When the weather turned again, the state of the game was clear for all to see – New Zealand’s batters racing towards the pavilion at the first hint as England reluctantly followed.
PA
