England's Top Order Struggles on Rain-Affected Day 1 at Lord's
Overs14.5 Score34 - 4 Will O'Rourke to Jamie Smith, This one dies in front of the keeper. Full and wide of off, Jamie shows no interest in poking at it. The ball drops in front of the keeper but Tom Blundell does well to gather it diving to his right. W Overs14.4 Score34 - 4 Will O'Rourke to Joe Root, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! Will O'Rourke gets the big fish. Right in the channel from O'Rourke, in the corridor of uncertainty. Joe Root doesn't move his feet much and just tries to run it down with a slightly open bat face. The height of Will helps him extract an extra bit of bounce, and there is a bit of nip away, enough to induce an outside edge of Root's bat. It is taken well around his chest by the keeper, Tom Blundell behind the stumps. 0 Overs14.1 Score34 - 3 Will O'Rourke to Joe Root, This is a textbook front foot defensive stroke from Joe Root. Good length around middle and off, Joe Root shifts his bodyweight onto his front foot, meets the ball with the middle of his bat right underneath his eyeline and keeps it out. 0 Overs13.2 Score34 - 3 Nathan Smith to Harry Brook, A loud appeal for LBW, but it is turned down. In the channel, around off, swinging back into the batter. Harry Brook looks to punch this down to covers but ekes out an inside edge onto his pads. Tom Latham opts for a DRS after some convincing from the bowler. The replay shows a clear inside edge, and the visitors lose a review. W Overs12.4 Score33 - 3 Will O'Rourke to Jacob Bethell, OUT! LBW! Change in length has done the trick for Will O'Rourke. Bowls this on a length and angles it back into the batter. Jacob Bethell goes for a straight drive but misses. The ball clips the front pad before it deflects off the back pad towards the fielder at first slip. NZ are appealing for both LBW and a catch as this was really close to the bat, but the umpire shrugs it away. This is sent upstairs by Tom Latham. The replay shows a clear gap between the bat and the ball, and the umpire moves on to Ball Tracking, which confirms three reds with the ball hitting the middle stump. The on-field decision is asked to be overturned, and Jacob Bethell has to walk back. England are now 3 down for 33. W Overs11.3 Score31 - 2 Nathan Smith to Ben Duckett, OUT! LBW! With Duckett walking back, both the English openers are back in the dressing room now. Smith bowls this around that nagging length, on middle and shapes it back into the batter. Ben Duckett gets beaten by the seam movement on offer and the ball brushes the front pad before hitting the flap of the back pad. A loud appeal by the visitors and the umpire raises his finger. Ben Duckett has a lengthy chat with Jacob at the other end, but he eventually decides not to refer this upstairs. The Ball Tracking later shows that it is three reds with the ball crashing into the leg pole. 4 Overs11.2 Score31 - 1 Nathan Smith to Ben Duckett, FOUR! This is the Ben Duckett that the English supporters are used to seeing. Back of a length, around off, Ben Duckett rides the bounce and punches this off his back foot. Opens the face of his bat to place this in the gap through point for four runs. Mel Jones informs on air that Matt Henry suffered back spasms during his stint with the ball and has left the field. Henry will be monitored throughout the remainder of the day to assess whether he can return to the action. It will be Nathan Smith to operate from the other end. We are all set for the resumption. The sun is shining in all its glory over Lord's and, let's hope it stays that way. The two umpires and players have made their way out to the centre. Will O'Rourke will steam in first up. Ben Duckett is on strike. Three slips and a gully in place. Let's go... 12.30 pm GMT - Official word is in. There are still a couple of areas around the edge of the square receiving attention from the ground staff, but the good news is that play will resume at 12.45 pm GMT. Tea will be taken at 3.15 pm GMT, meaning we are set for a two-and-a-half-hour afternoon session. 12.14 pm GMT - Good news! The rain has stopped, and the ground staff have begun the mop-up operation. After a lengthy delay, there is finally some activity out in the middle. An inspection has been scheduled for 12.30 pm GMT. The sun is out, which is good to see. Let's hope the rain stays away and we are able to resume soon. Lunch on Day 1 - Just 10 overs were possible in the first session of the opening day of the English Test summer, but we hope for better fortunes going ahead. After what transpired here during last year's World Test Championship final and the England-India Test that followed, there was plenty of discussion around whether the surface would play any differently this time around. It did not take long for the answer to emerge, with the lack of pace and bounce evident from the very first ball. Shot-making is unlikely to get any easier as the ball loses its hardness. The scheduled start time for the second session is 12.25 pm GMT, weather permitting. Until then, you can switch your attention to Lahore, where the series decider between Pakistan and Australia has just gotten underway. See you shortly. 11.07 am GMT - It continues to rain at Lord's, and it is quite a heavy downpour now. The radar does not make for particularly encouraging reading either, with plenty more rain expected through the afternoon. We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but rain is forecast on all five days of the Test, with interruptions possible throughout the match. All we can do is hope for the best. Summarising the action so far - It still felt like both sides were feeling each other out before the rain arrived and brought play to a halt. After being asked to bat, England's batters have had to work hard for their runs, with the surface proving to be on the slower side. It was a brief stay for debutant Emilio Gay, who became Kyle Jamieson's first victim of the morning. The tall Kiwi took a few deliveries to find his radar, but once he did, he managed to prise out the left-hander. Usually one to take the game on, Ben Duckett has dialled back the aggression and adopted a more watchful approach, while Jacob Bethell has had a few plays and misses in his stay so far. 10.45 am GMT - As the umpires gather on the adjacent strip to discuss the looming weather threat, the downpour suddenly intensifies. The officials quickly suspend play and signal for the players to leave the field, prompting the ground staff to rush out with the hover cover. Michael Atherton reckons we could be in for a significant delay, with this band of rain expected to linger for the next hour or two. He remains optimistic about play resuming later in the day once the worst of the weather has passed. 2 Overs9.5 Score24 - 1 Kyle Jamieson to Jacob Bethell, Nicely done. Jamieson bashes the hard length, over off. Bethell hops and gets on top of the bounce. He opens the bat face to beat the diving backward point fielder to his right and comes back for the second run.
