The Prague Post - Atkinson double leaves New Zealand reeling after Gay's fifty on England debut

England's strong position also owed much to debutant opener Emilio Gay's valuable fifty in a low-scoring game.

New Zealand were 36-3 in their second innings at stumps. They need a further 218 runs to reach a victory target of 254 after collapsing to 113 all out first time around on a bowler-friendly pitch.

They suffered a woeful start to their run-chase on Friday when captain Tom Latham fell for a third-ball duck, edging a loose drive off Atkinson to Harry Brook in the slips.

Kane Williamson, in what could be the key batsman's final appearance at Lord's, battled hard for 18 before he was lbw to fast bowler Josh Tongue shortly before the close.

New Zealand sent out a nightwatchman in Will O'Rourke but he was bowled for a duck by paceman Atkinson, who had close figures of 2-10 in 3.5 overs.

Earlier, Jamie Smith helped England recover from a middle-order collapse before the hosts were dismissed for 226 in their second innings of a frenetic clash in north London.

Gay was England's top scorer in their second innings with 57 and wicket-keeper Smith made 39 in the 150th Test staged at Lord's -- the most of any ground.

New Zealand quick Nathan Smith took 6-70.

But given New Zealand were dismissed for just 113 in the first innings, they need a vastly-improved batting effort to prevent England going 1-0 up in the three-match series.

- 'Tough day' -

"A tough day, the pitch had its demands," Gay told the BBC. "That's the beauty of Test cricket, the challenges it brings.

"The most important thing was trying to embrace it and see it as an opportunity. When it's a low-scoring game, partnerships of 20 and little bits of momentum there are massive."

Nathan Smith, meanwhile, said: "The game has moved pretty quickly in the first couple of days. We lost one too many wickets tonight but the wicket (pitch) is offering a lot for the seamers."

England lost four wickets for just one run as 126-2 became 127-6 before Jamie Smith steadied the ship during a seventh-wicket partnership of 57 with Atkinson.

Atkinson, however, gave his innings away on 14 when a miscued pull off Kyle Jamieson was caught by the towering fast bowler.

This is England's first Test since a 4-1 series loss in Australia where they squandered several promising positions.

It appeared that they might be suffering a repeat of their Ashes debacle when Brook, fresh from a first-innings fifty, and England captain Ben Stokes were both dismissed without scoring on Friday.

There was little Jamie Smith could do when Nathan Smith bowled him with a delivery that kept low.

Gay, who survived a Henry lbw appeal when the Durham batsman would have been out for 24, pressed on to an 84-ball fifty, including seven fours, before he was caught behind off Smith to leave England 126-3.

Brook was trapped in front by O'Rourke for a duck and Joe Root fell in similar fashion to Smith for eight.

Stokes was bowled by an excellent Smith delivery that clipped the top of the left-hander's off stump.

Ollie Robinson made a useful 29 before he was last man out.

The Sussex pace bowler had previously marked his return to England duty with a five-wicket haul.

Robinson, in his first Test in over two years, produced a triple-wicket maiden on Thursday during a sensational 4-10 in six overs as New Zealand slumped to 61-6 at stumps.

And on Friday, he bowled last man Matt Henry for a duck to finish with his Test-best figures of 5-39 in 10.1 overs.

L.Bartos--TPP