ENG VS NZ 1st Test: Glenn Phillips, the man who often leaves people stunned with his acrobatic fielding efforts, was left dumbfounded by a special delivery from England pacer Josh Tongue when the two faced off on the morning of day 2 of the ENG vs NZ 1st Test.
The English home summer kicked off on Thursday at the Lord’s with the first of the three-Test series between England and New Zealand.
Day 1 was a fast-moving event as 16 wickets fell. England were bowled out for 140; Harry Brook, the only batsman to go past 20, top-scored with 56, and Kyle Jamieson picked up a five-wicket haul.
England’s retort was even more severe as Ollie Robinson claimed three wickets in his first over back in Test cricket after more than two years. Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, and Rachin Ravindra were sent packing for scores of 1, 0, and 0, respectively.
Day 1 at Lord’s ended with New Zealand at 61/6 as Gus Atkinson and Tongue got on the wickets column too.
Video: Josh Tongue takes out Glenn Phillips’ off-stump with a jaffa: ENG VS NZ 1st Test
The wicket-falling procession continued on Friday as well: on his first ball of the day, Tongue rattled the off-stump of Phillips, who had batted well for his 34 runs off 39 balls and ended up being the second-highest scorer of New Zealand’s innings.
Tongue bowled the perfect line and length. The ball pitches slightly on the fuller part of the good length and was angled into the right-hander.
Given Tongue’s action and angle that have fooled many a batsman, Phillips aimed to play an on-drive towards mid-on. However, the ball held its line upon pitching and beat Phillips’ bat on its outside edge. Phillips’ bat had slanted, and he played down the wrong line, with the ball rattling into the off-stump and uprooting it.
The Kiwi batter was astounded upon receiving such a peach of a delivery so early in the day and began his walk towards the dressing room after looking at the Lord’s pitch that has offered plenty of seam movement in this Test match.
Check out the video here:
It didn’t take much time for England to clean the rest of the Kiwi lineup. The visitors were bowled out for 113 runs, handing the hosts a lead of 27 runs. Robinson completed his five-wicket haul as he looks to establish himself as a key figure in the England pace attack with Jofra Archer absent. Tongue took three, and Atkinson bagged a brace.
By lunch, England had swelled that lead to 99 runs. Ben Duckett scored 33 runs before being dismissed by Will O’Rourke, while debutant Emilio Gay is unbeaten on 24* and partnering him is young Jacob Bethell.
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