New Zealand reach 246-3 on day one of first Test as Devon Conway (136no) becomes sixth man to score a hundred on debut at Lord's; England debutant Ollie Robinson takes two wickets on day fans return to Test cricket in England for first time since September 2019
Wednesday 2 June 2021 22:03, UK
Ollie Robinson capped his maiden England appearance with two wickets but fellow Test debutant Devon Conway's classy unbeaten 136 steered New Zealand to a dominant 246-3 on the day fans returned to Test cricket in England for the first time since September 2019.
Robinson bowled Tom Latham (23) off an inside edge in the opening session and then pinned Ross Taylor (14) lbw after lunch as he carried on the sort of form that had seen him claim 29 wickets in five games in this season's LV= Insurance County Championship for Sussex.
There was no shifting opener Conway, though, who became the 12th New Zealander to score a hundred in their first Test and the sixth man from any country to hit a Test ton on debut at Lord's when he dispatched Robinson to the square-leg boundary with an extraordinary flamingo-style flick.
Conway's hundred was sealed during an unbroken 132-run stand with the dogged Henry Nicholls (46no off 149 balls) after Robinson's removal of Taylor had reduced the Black Caps to 114-3 in the tourists' first game at Lord's since their defeat to England in the 2019 World Cup final.
New Zealand were crestfallen on that day two years ago but are buoyant now with Conway's century giving them a strong start in their bid for a seventh Test win in a row and just a second Test victory ever at Lord's.
Crowds of up to 6,500 are permitted at Lord's this week and those in attendance on Wednesday saw two England players earn their first caps with Robinson joined by wicketkeeper James Bracey, who became the first Gloucestershire player to represent England since Jon Lewis in 2006.
Robinson - part of a four-man pace attack with the hosts leaving out frontline spinner Jack Leach - made the first breakthrough of the day, in his fourth over and the 16th of the match, when he forced Latham to chop onto his stumps one ball after beating the left-hander's outside edge.
That dismissal snapped Latham's 58-run opening stand with Conway after New Zealand had elected to bat and gave Robinson the opportunity to bowl at Williamson, days after he had told the media just how he planned to remove the top-ranked Test batsman in the world.
Speaking on Sunday, Robinson had said: "It looks like swinging it away from him, pulling him across the crease and then using the nip-backer to get him lbw is a solid option."
The 27-year-old, preferred to fellow in-form seamer Craig Overton in the England XI, beat Williamson's edge a couple of times early on but it was Anderson who went on to dismiss the Kiwi captain after lunch.
Williamson, like Latham, dragged a ball back onto his stumps as Anderson claimed his 615th Test wicket and 993rd in all red-ball cricket on the day he equalled Sir Alastair Cook's record of playing in 161 Tests for England.
Anderson and Stuart Broad - the latter serving as Root's vice-captain for this series with Ben Stokes recovering from injury and Jos Buttler rested - then worked over Taylor, beating his edge with regularity, though it was Robinson who accounted for the 37-year-old, lbw with a nip-backer.
Conway completed a 91-ball fifty shortly before Taylor's dismissal, which he turned into a 163-ball hundred in the evening as he showed why he came into the game with a first-class average of 47 and 18 previous red-ball tons.
The South Africa-born left-hander looked uncomfortable at times while dealing with some scorching Mark Wood deliveries but was otherwise serene, notching 14 fours and scoring both sides of the wicket as he punished the fuller deliveries while being more circumspect against length.
Root was England's slow-bowling option with the home side going into a Lord's Test without a frontline spinner for the first time since 2002 and the captain got through 11 of the 86 overs bowled - the last 48 of which failed to produce a wicket as Conway and Nicholls frustrated the home side.
Ahead of the Test, England and New Zealand shared a 'moment of unity' to display their backing for equality throughout cricket.
England were clothed in anti-discrimination T-shirts, which will continue to be worn in warm-ups this summer by the hosts' men's and women's sides.
Watch day two of the first Test between England and New Zealand live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am on Thursday.
