England v New Zealand: Hosts struggling after tourists resist at Lord's

New Zealand built an imposing lead on the second day of the first Test at Lord's, putting England in a difficult position to win.

The home side toiled with an unconquered partnership of 180 that took New Zealand to 236-4.

After lunch, New Zealand's lead was only 47, but Mitchell's 97 not out and Blundell's 90 ensured there was no further damage done.

England were bowled out for 141 in the first session of the second day, giving them a nine-run lead.

The home side lost their last eight in a row.

After dismissing New Zealand for 132 on the first day of the first Test, England failed to take advantage of the opportunity to win the match.

Calm restored as England toil

There was a time when the second day looked like it would follow the first day's pattern.

There was a chance of a two-day finish after seven more were gone at the start of the afternoon session.

Even though the pitch was not to blame for the abysmal batting from both teams, at some point at least one player would put it to good use and make a difference.

New Zealand found two, with Mitchell and Blundell showing all of the patience, determination and good judgement that had been missing from almost every other batter.

For a while in the afternoon, Test match cricket broke out in a way that was completely different to the fast-forward style that had dominated until that point.

New Zealand were able to accelerate to a point where the game was already beyond the hosts as the England attack tired.

Mitchell and Blundell punish England

New Zealand looked rusty, tentative and uncertain in its collapse on Thursday.

All of the players nicked off on Friday. For the second time in the match, it was to England's Matthew Potts.

The Black Caps were in control after Mitchell and Blundell absorbed the pressure.

There were times when Mitchell played rash drives at James Anderson and was slightly perturbed by short balls from Ben Stokes, while Blundell looked nervous when Matt Parkinson came in.

Both right-handed players scored a lot through the middle overs, with Blundell also playing some attractive strokes on the off side.

With the chance of facing the second new ball on Saturday morning, they will each sleep on the verge of a century.

England pay price for meek collapse

England could have taken charge of the game, but after losing five of their own for eight runs on Thursday, they began Friday trying to get back in the game.

Stuart Broad played an awful shot at Tim Southee, Ben Foakes played a poor shot at Trent Boult, and Parkinson played a poor shot at Trent Boult.

After the first day of bowling, England found that Anderson, Broad and Potts were just as good as the first day.

Fast-medium bowlers had a familiar one-dimensional feel when Mitchell and Blundell dug in.

Parkinson wasn't able to give the point of difference that England needed.

The bouncers sent down by the captain were not able to stop them. After the batting collapse, the new captain was given a lesson in how to lead the team.