ENG vs NZ, 1st Test Day 2 Highlights: New Zealand 36/3 at stumps, need 228 more to win against England

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Gentle hands at work. Length delivery outside off, Ravindra brings an angled bat into play and pushes it softly through the gap between gully and backward point. Two taken. 203 needed more.

Back on! The game of musical chairs continues. The players are back on the field and we are ready to resume. Ollie Robinson gets a change of ends. 7-1-13-0 so far.

Not a lengthy delay (hopefully) - Well, Shai is busy captaining the West Indies against the Sri Lankans at home but England would need a lot of hope right now. And not just England, any cricket fan would hope the same. Michael Atherton on air informs that when the rain began, things looked pretty bleak but as quickly as the gust came, it seems to have gone as well. The rain has already reduced to a drizzle. Not far from resumption, one would say.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Off we go again - 12.37 pm GMT - The wind has picked up in intensity and the flags have started to sway around a bit. In fact, it has become pretty gusty. This could be a good as well as a bad sign. The immediate assumption would mean that rain is around the corner. In fact, the rain is sweeping in now and off go the players again. The good sign could be that, given that this is a gust, this might just be a passing shower and some rain clouds might get blown away. So we wait again.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, That was nearly costly. Josh serves it on a good length outside off, the ball jags and wobbles a touch after Ravindra shoulders arms. Smith cannot gather it cleanly behind the stumps, and it trickles away behind him. For a moment, it threatens to run into the unattended helmet on the ground, placed behind the keeper, but it misses by a whisker. A bye is taken, and England escape without the five-run penalty. The replays show that Root had reacted to his right to stop the ball with a dive and on closer look, it appears that the ball anyway was heading wide of the head gear.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, This one is fired in at 88 mph with a bit of extra pace behind it, but the line is well outside off stump. Ravindra watches it closely all the way and is happy to let it pass. An easy leave and nothing to trouble the batter there.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, Shortish and outside off, left alone.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, Back of a length, on off, defended off the back foot.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, FOUR! That's a lovely way to get off the pair. Full and around off, angling into the batter, and Ravindra is quickly into position. He leans forward, presents the full face of the bat and drives beautifully through mid off. The timing is exquisite, and the ball races away to the fence. A classy stroke to open his account, and one that will ease any nerves.

Josh Tongue to Rachin Ravindra, Tongue begins with a gentle loosener, full and outside off at 84 mph, it curls away a bit as well. Ravindra looks at it after pressing forward and then leaves it for the keeper.

The mystery of zero - Zero is such a intriguing digit. Place it after a number and the former's value increases magnificently. But place it without any number and 0 has no value. That's exactly how Rachin Ravindra would be feeling at the moment. He has faced just 9 balls in this innings, but given that he got a first-baller in the first innings, he will be eager to get that first run of this match. Here's Josh Tongue to make things harder. 3-1-10-1 so far.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Atkinson hurls across an 85 mph delivery, in the corridor outside off, Devon Conway has nothing to do with it.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Targets the off stump with a length ball, around off, Conway is forward and defends it near his front pad.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Skiddy delivery, full and outside off, angling in, Devon Conway is doing a good job in judging these deliveries and leaving. We have already seen plenty of left alone and bowled in this Test, so judgment is paramount.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, 85 mph in pace but not much life in this delivery. Back of a length, outside off, it's left alone once more. It dies down as it reaches the keeper.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Gus serves it on a length and just around off, Conway strides forward to cover the line and leaves this time.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, At 86 mph, this is pitched on a good length around off and kicks on sharply after striking the seam. Conway is drawn into a tentative push, feeling for the ball outside his body line, but it zips past the bat. A lively delivery that carries through nicely to the keeper.

4 months adrift - Eagerly awaiting October 1. Among the newly proposed rules by the ICC, one of them is to swap to pink balls in Test matches, if the conditions become overcast and floodlights need to be switched on. The lights are on in full effect at the Home Of Cricket and the last thing we need now is for players to walk off the field for bad light.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Bowled on a length and outside off, an easy leave for Ravindra again.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Robinson delivers it on a good length, close to off, and there is some extra bounce as Rachin Ravindra leaves it alone. Jamie Smith collects the ball near his face. We have seen plenty of uneven bounce in this game already.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Inviting length, there to be driven outside off, Ravindra watches closely, makes sure that it's not nipping in to target his pads and then leaves it alone.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Identical to the last delivery and once again Rachin Ravindra offers the same treatment. He is calm on the back foot and blocks it safely towards point.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, This is on a testing length just outside off, Ravindra presses forward and plays with soft hands, presenting a slightly angled bat face. He guides the ball towards point.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, On and around off, shaping away a touch, Devon Conway plays late and dabs it towards point. They take a quick run.

Gus Atkinson to Rachin Ravindra, In the zone outside off, Rachin leaves it to complete the over.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Taps a length ball down to covers and takes a single.

Tom and Jerry show begins - One runs, the other tries to catch. One of our most celebrated cartoons in our childhood. Or even now. The weather is doing the same to us. We are trying to have some action but the weather is trying to drive us out of the ground. Let's hope we stay for a bit longer this time.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, NO BALL AND FOUR! That's aerial but safe. Full and outside off, Conway slices his attempted drive and his bottom hand comes off the handle. The ball flies over gully-point and finds the fence.

12.22 pm GMT resumption time! Covers coming off? Well, that's what we are hearing! Nasser Hussain mentioned that we might have missed the best weather window, which was during the time Lunch was being taken. But it seems like the weather is showing some kindness to all of us. It just seems like play might resume soon, but this is England. Before we can type resume, the job might get cancelled. As of now, the resumption time is 12.22 pm GMT.

Bizarre decision? Well, that's what Nasser Hussain feels on air, regarding the umpires' decision to call for an early Lunch, when the conditions were bright and sunny. But let's not forget, there are always multiple angles to one story. It is easy to say that play should have started at around, say 11.30 am GMT and carried on, with Lunch being scrapped. Logical thinking. But what we don't know is, what was the exact talk between the groundstaff and the umpires. From what we can assume, we feel that the groundstaff might have requested for around 30-40 minutes of time to clear the outfield. Remember, it has been raining since morning today. And looking at that, the umpires might have felt it best to take the Lunch break, since play would not have been possible any which ways. Till we get the full story, unwise to comment on anything. For now, we can just request these unwanted visitors to leave.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Going in again - 12.07 pm update - 'Rain coming in now, from the southwest', another update from Nasser Hussain. The umpires have a look at the heavens, but play goes on. In fact, it does not, as the umpires have called for the covers. So after just 11 balls of play, we are back to waiting. The score has moved by a smidgeon, with a run added to the tally and now, the brollies have started to open up in the stands. The rain is getting heavier by the minute.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Hurls a length ball outside off, Conway guards his stumps and shoulders arms.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Lands it on a good length around off, shaping in a touch. Conway gets forward and presents the full face of the bat, easing it towards cover. There is a brief thought of a single, but a quick 'wait, wait' sends Rachin Ravindra back as the fielder moves smartly around the ball.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Pulls his length back a bit, around off, Devon Conway goes on the back foot and defends it to the off side.

'The rain has stopped', quips Mel Jones on air. Helpful. There is a bit of blue overhead. Helpful again. But three-fourths of the sky is engulfed with grey skies. Not helpful.

Gus Atkinson to Devon Conway, Atkinson goes full and angles it around off, Devon is on the front foot as he drives firmly. It goes back to the bowler, and Gus Atkinson collects it nicely.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, On middle and leg, Ravindra works it towards mid-wicket.

Ollie Robinson to Rachin Ravindra, Got him, gone! Nope. My ears are twitching. Full and just outside off, Rachin Ravindra pushes at it and there is a noise as the ball shoots past the outside edge. But that did not possibly hit the bat as no one appealed.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, The first run of the day. Slightly full outside off, DC pushes it towards cover point and the two batters scamper across.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, On a good length, decent bounce outside off, Devon shoulders arms.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, This one nips back in a long way. Conway lunges again but misses his tick, to get hit on the stomach.

Ollie Robinson to Devon Conway, Full and around off, Devon Conway leans and pushes it towards cover.

Ollie time? Without a doubt. Ollie Robinson will bowl from the other end, hunting for his first wicket in this innings.

Gus Atkinson to Rachin Ravindra, Ohoy! We have a ball in play! On a length, around off, Ravindra, who is on a pair, bunts it out. 

All set to play? We certainly hope so. The clock is about to tick past 1 pm local and the players are on the field for the first time today. However, some unwanted dark clouds have come in to spoil the fun. As long as they don't burst open, we can have some sort of action happening. Nothing is worse than sitting and just waiting for something to happen, but seeing nothing happen. Rachin Ravindra has come in at number 5, replacing the night watchman, Will O'Rourke, to join Devon Conway. Gus Atkinson will complete his over, but even before we can start, Nasser Hussain murmurs, 'It has started to rain.' Here we go again...

Ollie's London love - We are not too far from resumption (hopefully) and one bowler who would be eager to get things rolling is Ollie Robinson. Making a Test comeback after 2 years and picking up his first wicket after nearly 3 years would have given him immense pleasure. Add to it, of his 81 wickets in Tests, 33 have come in London (Lord's and Oval), which makes it a shade less than 50 percent. Delving further, 21 of those 33 have come at Lord's alone, with his lowest tally in an innings being 2 wickets! He would want to make use of the momentum and try and wrap this match tonight itself, hoping that we get at least 40 overs of play.

Runs galore in Mullanpur - 100 for KL Rahul. 103 for Shubman Gill and ongoing. 81 for Sai Sudharsan. 50 for Rishabh Pant and ongoing. Not unexpected, but Afghanistan would be happy with a bit of respite from the schooling that they have been given on the opening day of the only Test against India. After electing to bat, the hosts have piled on a mammoth 368/3 in 85 overs, with their only disappointment being Yashasvi Jaiswal missing out. Of course, critics will point at Rahul and Sudharsan not carrying on and getting bigger scores but as a team, India would be relatively pleased. A 600-plus score seems to be on the cards, with the second aim being to pick a couple of Afghan wickets before close on Sunday. Azmatullah Omarzai was the only bowler who seemed to keep the hosts under some sort of a leash while the rest of the inexperienced attack got put to the sword.

Lunch time! Technically, the first session has not been entirely washed out but the scorecards will not say so. As mentioned earlier, the groundstaff has had a discussion with the umpires and convinced the latter to call for an early Lunch, with the second session scheduled to start at Noon GMT. Of course, when this decision was being made, the conditions were bright and sunny and hopes were not shied of expecting a clear day for the remaining two sessions. If one of the peers in our group is to be believed, Saturday is forecast to have the worst weather of all the five days and looking at the radar, it seems like a massive wet band is approaching the ground, which puts the rest of the day in jeopardy. But since we don't play for the weather, the ECB has released the revised timings for today (In GMT) - Session 2 - Noon-1510. Tea - 1510-1530. Session 3 - 1530-1800. Buffer - Additional 30 minutes to make up for pending overs. As many as 86 overs are scheduled for the day! Wow. Bangladesh would willingly accept this challenge of bowling so many overs in a shorter stipulated time. All the best!