This was supposed to be foot on throat time. Arriving at Lord’s yesterday morning, England might have imagined a day of dominance stretching in front of them. Nip out a few tailenders in the morning and, as the pros like to say, bat long. But a combination of stiff Kiwi resistance and five stoppages for bad light in the afternoon meant that England finished another shortened day 209 runs adrift, one more than at the start of play. That lack of progression just about sums things up.

This was a frustrating day for spectators and players alike, a day when the rhythm of the match was disrupted. The law states that there must be an “obvious and foreseeable risk to the safety of players”, yet it was hard to argue that viewpoint, given the armour-like protection afforded the modern batsman and the lack of extreme pace on either side.

Yet it was gloomy throughout the day and, once the light had been offered, it was difficult to counter the decisions taken by the players to retreat to the pavilion. The spectators registered their displeasure by accompanying them off the field with alternate boos, hisses and slow handclaps. There would have been rumblings in the shires last night.

Accordingly, it was not until 70 minutes after lunch that Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss emerged from the pavilion in pursuit of New Zealand’s total. Their first task was to put to bed the notion that, in the way of many modern marriages, they are unsuitable partners. Perceived wisdom is that they are too samey (ie, too defensive) to flourish, but both played friskily, Cook finishing unbeaten on 43 and Strauss on 24. Today they have the chance to show that they are worth a more permanent coupling.

In the morning England’s first task was to amputate New Zealand’s tail, pronto. Until you get to Chris Martin, this is often a more difficult task than it may seem, the Kiwis being the type of team who like to maximise their often meagre resources. Since 2005, just about half of New Zealand’s runs in Test cricket have come from numbers 6 to 11, a statistic that says much about the fighting qualities of their tail and just as much about the fragility of the top order.

Chief pain, as far as Michael Vaughan was concerned, was his opposite number, who resisted stoutly for the best part of three hours for his 48. Daniel Vettori is no oil painting of a batsman, but he is as gritty as they come. He was two short of a half-century when he decided to leave a ball from Ryan Sidebottom that diverted from its anticipated route and crashed into his middle and off stumps. A Rumsfeldian misjudgment.

At the start Vettori might have hoped for more fireworks from the other end, but with only a single in the first half-hour, it was clear that Jacob Oram was in Test match, rather than Twenty20, mode. In fact, England had done their homework pretty well, recognising that Oram is a much better player when allowed to dominate on the front foot. Instead, a plentiful supply of short balls kept him pinned to the crease. Twice Oram was made to feel the crunch of hard leather on bones from James Anderson, a softening-up process that was exploited at the other end by Sidebottom. Attempting to play to mid-on, when his lack of footwork betrayed the fact that he may have been expecting another short ball, Oram edged a full, swinging ball to first slip, where Strauss held the catch in juggling fashion.

Sidebottom encapsulated the weird and often contradictory nature of this great game. He was as good yesterday as he had been poor the day before, rediscovering his accuracy and menace. Clearly his confidence had returned as well, for, with the second new ball due, he rushed up to Steve Bucknor before the umpire had finished waving the ball in the air to signal its immediate use.

With the new “pill” in his hand, Sidebottom might have had a wicket with his first ball – Kyle Mills coming perilously close to being leg-before - and got one with his second, a full, swinging pearler that rocked back the batsman’s off stump. He cleaned up Tim Southee in similar fashion and then Vettori, so that his bald figures of the first day took on a hirsute look. His 10.2 overs yesterday brought him four wickets for five runs. The spectators will hope for a similar change of fortune today.

New Zealand: First Innings

J M How c Ambrose b Anderson 7

(34min, 18 balls)

A J Redmond c Cook b Anderson 0 (7min, 5 balls)

J A H Marshall c Strauss b Broad 24 (104min, 71 balls, 4 fours)

L R P L Taylor c Collingwood b Broad 19 (24min, 20 balls, 3 fours)

B B McCullum b Panesar 97 (173min, 97 balls, 2 sixes, 13 fours)

D R Flynn b Anderson 9 (36min, 32 balls, 2 fours)

J D P Oram c Strauss b Sidebottom 28 (139min, 97 balls, 3 fours)

*D L Vettori b Sidebottom 48 (152min, 100 balls, 6 fours)

K D Mills b Sidebottom 10 (66min, 59 balls)

T G Southee b Sidebottom 1 (9min, 9 balls)

C S Martin not out 0 (19min, 13 balls)

Extras (16 b, 14 lb, 1 w, 3 nb) 34

Total (86.2 overs, 386min) 277

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (1.5; How 2); 2-18 (7.3; Marshall 10); 3-41 (12.3; Marshall 14); 4-76 (23.2; McCullum 18); 5-104 (31.2; McCullum 32); 6-203 (50.1; Oram 23); 7-222 (62.5; Vettori 8); 8-258 (80.2; Vettori 30); 9-260 (82.3; Vettori 31).

Bowling: Sidebottom 28.2-12-55-4 (9 fours; 5-1-14-0, 1-0-3-0, 6-2-14-0, 6-2-19-0, 0.1-0-0-0/stumps/ 6.5-4-3-1, 1-1-0-1/lunch/0.2-0-0-0/light/1.4-2-0-1/ light 0.2-0-2-1); Anderson 20-5-66-3 (nb 1, w 1; 9 fours; 7-1-23-2, 3-2-4-1/tea/2-0-15-0, 6-2-9-0, 1.5-0-15-0/light/0.1-0-0-0); Broad 24-4-85-2 (nb 2; 1 six, 10 fours; 4-0-13-1, 5-2-21-1, 5-1-32-0, 1-0-4-0, 9-1-15-0); Collingwood 3-1-11-0 (1 four; 1-1-0-0, 1-0-6-0, 1-0-5-0); Panesar 11-2-30-1 (1 six, 2 fours; 1-1-0-0, 3-0-15-1, 7-1-15-0).

Scoring notes: Second day: Second new ball taken at 12.50pm - 258-7 (80 overs). Lunch 260-8 (82 overs, 364min; Vettori 31, Southee 1). Light breaks 1.41 to 2.04pm (260-8 off 82.2 overs) and 2.23 to 2.38pm (275-9 off 85.5 overs). All out at 2.40pm.

England: First Innings

A J Strauss not out 24 (94min, 69 balls, 2 fours)

A N Cook not out 43 (94min, 61 balls, 6 fours)

Extras (1 nb)1

Total (no wkt, 21.3 overs, 94min) 68

* M P Vaughan, K P Pietersen, I R Bell, P D Collingwood, T R Ambrose, S C J Broad, R J Sidebottom, M S Panesar and J M Anderson to bat.

Bowling: Martin 8.3-2-24-0 (3 fours; 3-1-9-0/light/ 3-1-6-0, 2.3-0-9-0); Mills 5-0-10-0 (1 four; 2.3-0-6-0/ light/2.3-0-4-0); Southee 3-0-19-0 (3 fours; 1-0-1-0/ tea/2-0-18-0); Oram 5-0-15-0 (1 four; one spell).

Scoring notes: Second day: Light breaks: 3.14 to 3.27pm (15-0 off 5.3 overs); 3.57 to 4.59pm. Tea (at 3.57pm) 26-0 (12 overs, 53min; Strauss 9, Cook 16). Bad light stopped play at 5.40pm. Play abandoned at 6.40pm - 40 overs lost. Close 68-0 (21.3 overs, 94min; Strauss 24, Cook 43).

Umpires: S A Bucknor (West Indies, 123rd Test) and S J A Taufel (Australia, 51st). Replay umpire: N J Llong. Fourth umpire: J W Lloyds. Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Tests to come: Second (Old Trafford) May 23-27. Third (Trent Bridge) June 5-9.

Compiled by Bill Frindall