LONDON: Kyle Jamieson took three wickets as New Zealand pressed for victory by once again ripping thro­ugh England’s infamously weak top order in the first Test at Lord’s on Saturday.

England were 99 for four at tea on the third day, still needing a further 178 runs to reach a victory target of 277, with towering paceman Jamieson returning fine interval figures of three for 24 in nine overs.

England, with just one win from their previous 17 Tests, were left looking to new captain Ben Stokes (15 not out) and former skipper Joe Root (23 not out) to pull off an improbable win in the first of this three-Test series.

Stokes, on his 31st birthday, received a lifeline when on one he played on, after recklessly charging at Colin de Grandhomme, only to be reprieved when replays revealed his opposing all-rounder had bowled a fractional no-ball.

Earlier, England great Stuart Broad sparked a sensational New Zealand collapse after Daryl Mitchell made a hundred as the World Test champions, who had been 251 for four, were dismissed for 285 in their second innings.

But by then Mitchell, who made 108, and Tom Blundell (96) had shared a stand of 195 — more than either New Zealand (132) or England (141) managed in their first innings.

There have been only three successful fourth-innings run chases of over 200 in Lord’s Test history, with England’s best their 282 for three against New Zealand in 2004.

Alex Lees made a fluent start to Saturday’s pursuit, however, hitting four boundaries in his 20, only for the left-hander to be bowled leaving a Jamieson delivery.

England’s 31 for one at lunch became 32 for two soon afterwards when Jamieson had Zak Crawley caught in the slips for nine.

Ollie Pope then fell cheaply for the second time this match, bowled by a brilliant Trent Boult ball from around the wicket that came back up the slope.

Boult had got straight back in the groove after only arriving in England on Monday after playing in last weekend’s Indian Premier League final.

But Jonny Bairstow appeared to be still stuck in IPL mode as he too fell for his second low score this Test, bowled trying to drive Jamieson.

England, in sunny conditions seemingly ideal for batting and on a good pitch, were now reeling at 69 for four.

New Zealand had resu­med on 236 for four, a lead of 227.

Mitchell was 97 not out overnight and Blundell unbeaten on 90 after they had come together on Friday with the Black Caps in trouble at 56 for four.

The 31-year-old Mitchell wasted no time in reaching his second Test century and first abroad, off-driving Broad for three from his first ball Saturday to bring up a 189-ball hundred including 11 fours.

After waiting 366 deliveries to take the fifth wicket, England then astonishingly collected three in three balls.

Broad, recalled with James Anderson after England’s two all-time leading Test wicket-takers were controversially left out of a series loss in the Caribbean, dismissed Mitchell and Jamieson, either side of Pope running out de Grandhomme.

Broad had Mitchell caught behind and his next ball led to a huge lbw appeal against de Grandhomme, who carelessly left his crease and was run out for a golden duck by Pope’s direct hit from the slip cordon.

And with the following delivery, Broad bowled Jamieson.

Blundell, who had seen wickets tumble from the non striker’s end, took his score to 96 only to fall short of a hundred when plumb lbw to Anderson.

On Friday, Mitchell and Blundell were both eyeing coveted hundreds after batting New Zealand into a commanding position.

Their unbroken partnership of 180 took the world Test champions to 236 for four in their second innings at stumps after they had come together with New Zealand in trouble at 56 for four.

Mitchell was 97 not out and Blundell 90 not out — the first two fifties of the match.

They compiled the first century partnership of this match in classic Test-match fashion.

And at the close they had equalled New Zealand’s rec­ord fifth-wicket stand against England, set by Martin Crowe and Shane Thomson at Lord’s in 1994.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 132 (M. Potts 4-13, J. Anderson 4-66)

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 141

(T. Southee 4-55, T. Boult 3-21)

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings, overnight 236-4):

T. Latham c Foakes b Potts 14

W. Young c Foakes b Anderson 1

K. Williamson c Bairstow b Potts 15

D. Conway c Foakes b Broad 13

D. Mitchell c Foakes b Broad 108

T. Blundell lbw b Anderson 96

C. de Grandhomme run out (Pope) 0

K. Jamieson b Broad 0

T. Southee c Root b Parkinson 21

A. Patel lbw b Potts 4

T. Boult not out 4

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, NB-3, W-1) 9

TOTAL (all out, 91.3 overs) 285

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Latham), 2-30 (Williamson), 3-35 (Latham), 4-56 (Conway), 5-251 (Mitchell), 6-251 (De Grandhomme), 7-251 (Jamieson), 8-265 (Blundell), 9-281 (Patel), 10-285 (Southee)

BOWLING: Anderson 21-7-57-2; Broad 26-7-76-3 (1nb); Potts 20-3-55-3; Stokes 8-1-43-0 (2nb); Parkinson 15.3-0-47-1; Root 1-0-2-0

ENGLAND (2nd Innings):

Alex Lees b Jamieson 20

Zak Crawley c Southee b Jamieson 9

Ollie Pope b Boult 10

Joe Root not out 23

Jonny Bairstow b Jamieson 16

Ben Stokes not out 15

EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-2, W-1) 6

TOTAL (for four wickets, 34 overs) 99

STILL TO BAT: Ben Foakes, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Matt Parkinson

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31 (Alex Lees), 2-32 (Zak Crawley), 3-46 (Ollie Pope), 4-69 (Jonny Bairstow)

BOWLING: Southee 11-4-27-0; Boult 9-2-33-1 (1wd); Jamieson 9-2-24-3 (1nb); de Grandhomme 3.5-1-3-0 (1nb); Mitchell 0.1-0-0-0; Patel 1-0-9-0

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2022