Innings England 140 (Brook 56, Jamieson 5-62, Smith 3-38) vs New Zealand

After a ten-over prologue in the morning session, in which England’s debutant Emilio Gay showed glimpses of his potential before being extracted by Jamieson for 8, the real damage was done after a two-hour break for rain.

With Henry holed up in the dressing-room after experiencing discomfort during his four-over morning spell, New Zealand turned to the seam and swing combo of Will O’Rourke and Nathan Smith, with lethal effect.

From 31 for 1 in the second over of the resumption, England tumbled to 34 for 4 in the space of 14 balls, culminating in the priceless scalp of Joe Root for 1. That then became 55 for 5 when Jamie Smith inexplicably shouldered arms to an inducker from Jamieson and lost his off stump, also for 1.

It will be little consolation to Smith that his dismissal was marginally less embarrassing than his awful slap to cover off Marnus Labuschagne in England’s previous Test at Sydney in January, but as an illustration of England’s scrambled post-Bazball mindset, it was perfect.

A glimpse of England’s commitment to “smarter cricket”, as captain Stokes had put it, had been witnessed from the outset of the innings. Duckett, fronting up for the first ball in the absence of his former partner, Zak Crawley, offered consecutive leaves to Henry’s opening deliveries en route to a maiden over, and had struck just one boundary in 31 balls before a heavy downpour forced an early lunch.

He wasn’t able to make his start count, however. Nathan Smith, fresh from a six-wicket haul against Ireland last week, roared in from the Nursery End with an aggressive full length, and pinned Duckett on the back leg as he nipped the ball back down the slope.

Jacob Bethell showed decent judgment in persuading his partner not to burn a review, but he couldn’t translate that eye on the ball into his own innings. After an indifferent spell with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, and the added distraction of a finger injury, the sparkling form of his 154 at Sydney in January felt like a fever dream. After nudging along to 6 from 22 balls, Bethell launched into a drive as O’Rourke fired in a full length, missed the ball by a distance, and was sent on his way via three reds on review.

At 33 for 3, the stage was set for a Joe Root special – he certainly had Lord’s full blessing to rebuild the innings at any tempo necessary. But O’Rourke had other ideas, and the ball with Root’s name on it was a beauty: a vicious lifter from just back of a length, which kissed the edge on its way through to Tom Blundell.

Brook, who had swayed out of the way of a first-ball bouncer and took 11 balls to get off the mark, initially seemed unsure how to pace his attempted fightback. But, as so often, a moment of good fortune helped to crystallise his thought process. On 8, he sliced into a cut off O’Rourke, but Conway failed to grasp a routine chance as he attempted a reverse-cup take. Four balls later, Brook climbed through a trademark pull in front of square, and his innings was up and running.

His partners, however, were unable to find similar traction. After Smith’s aberration, Stokes emerged at his new berth at No.7, but scarcely exuded an air of permanence throughout an off-the-pace display. And, just as he was beginning to find his range with a pair of leg-side fours, he was undone by a blinder from his old adversary, Kane Williamson, in the cordon. A low edge off Jamieson looked for all the world to be going to ground, but Williamson flung himself across first slip from second, scooped the chance up in his fingertips, and clutched it to his chest to be sure.

Brook carried on swinging, taking lumps out of Jamieson’s heavy lengths to march towards a 64-ball fifty with nine fours. But with New Zealand setting in-out fields for the inevitable miscue, the bowler should have had the last laugh on 46, only for Ravindra to spill a top-edged pull in front of the Mound Stand.

It didn’t matter too much in the long run, however. After Gus Atkinson had come and gone for 4, Jamieson himself made amends on the fine leg rope to give Smith a deserved second, then landed his coveted place on the honours board soon afterwards too. Another downpour forced an early tea at 118 for 8, but two balls after the resumption, Ollie Robinson dangled his bat outside off and Latham smartly took the review with seconds to spare, to reveal a thin edge off the toe of his blade.

Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir were an unlikely source of late resistance. However, both men played the shots that their senior team-mates had scrapped from their gameplan to add 22 for the last wicket, the second-highest stand of the innings, before Smith seized his third to complete a job well done.