England moves closer to victory at Lord's

England made significant progress towards securing their first Test win against New Zealand at Lord's, despite the rain-affected conditions on the third day of play. The match was hampered by persistent rain, resulting in fewer than ten overs being played. Nonetheless, Ollie Robinson played a crucial role by claiming the important wickets of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, moving to a total of seven wickets in the match during his comeback to Test cricket.

New Zealand found themselves at 55-5, needing 199 runs to win, with the target of 254 beginning to seem increasingly far-fetched. The weather forecast predicted dry conditions for the following day, enhancing England's prospects of clinching the match and starting their post-Ashes rebuild on a positive note.

Despite the challenging weather, Saturday’s limited play was viewed as a bonus, even if the conditions led to interruptions. After an early lunch at 12:20 BST, play kicked off at 13:00 but was soon disrupted by rain, which ultimately led to the abandonment of play at 14:10. Robinson capitalised on the damp conditions, echoing his first-innings performance where he took 5-39.

When New Zealand resumed their innings at 37-3, Ravindra and Mitchell were seen as key batters who could have settled down and made things difficult for England. However, Robinson dismissed both, illustrating the effectiveness of his bowling in the varying conditions. Ravindra fell victim to a superb delivery that angled in and nipped away off the pitch, leaving him clean bowled. His disappointing performance continued, having scored nought and eight in the match, along with damaging drops that influenced the outcome of play.

England, cognizant of the conditions favoring their bowling attack and uncertain about the time left for play, employed a tactic of crowding the bat with several close catchers. Robinson's second wicket came after England's wicketkeeper Jamie Smith moved up to the stumps, leading to Robinson striking Mitchell on the pad. Despite a review, Mitchell was adjudged to be out, with the ball just clipping the leg stump, further complicating New Zealand's efforts.

The day concluded with rain once again stating its dominance, and play was halted permanently at 17:30.