Ollie Robinson conjured a jaw-dropping England comeback at Lord's, claiming three wickets in his first over for more than two years on an action-packed opening day against New Zealand.
Robinson has not been seen since February 2024, jettisoned due to concerns over his fitness and application, but was handed an olive branch for this first Rothesay Test as England sought to repair the damage of their Ashes debacle.
England's first-innings total of 140 – all 10 wickets tumbling inside 40 overs under gloomy skies – looked like bringing even more misery, but Robinson raised the roof with a sensational triple-wicket maiden as the tourists staggered to 61 for six.
Robinson's third ball nipped down the slope to trap Devon Conway in front of leg stump, his fifth looped to short leg via Kane Williamson's inside edge and his sixth devoured Rachin Ravindra lbw for a golden duck.
The 32-year-old, who lobbied hard for his second chance after 24 matches in the cold, changed not only the course of the match, but also the course of his career as he wrapped up figures of four for 10 from six impeccable overs.
England never doubted Robinson's skills, but worried about his durability, professionalism and focus. After routinely wasting the new ball in Australia, they must now wonder if they acted too hastily.
England's Batting Collapse
Head coach Brendon McCullum has flooded the airwaves with his vision for rebuilding the side, but the 150th Test at Lord's made for a deflating start. Put in to bat on a spicy surface, with ominous overhead conditions, they lost debutant opener Emilio Gay in the sixth over of the morning and never really recovered.
Gay, plucked from county cricket as Zak Crawley's replacement on the back of big runs for Durham, punched his first ball for four and hit the ropes a second time before nicking a Kyle Jamieson outswinger behind.
A two-hour rain break followed and when play resumed, New Zealand ran through the top order. Ben Duckett fell lbw for 19 to Nathan Smith and Jacob Bethell's first red-ball innings since his fine century in Sydney five months ago was brought to an early end by the slippery Will O'Rourke.
When Joe Root feathered a lifter from O'Rourke, England were 34 for four. Harry Brook batted with his usual mix of risk and reward, dropped at backward point on eight and dreadfully by Ravindra towards the end of his stay, but racked up 10 boundaries as he added 56 vital runs. His stay ended when he flicked a wayward ball to fine leg.
It was a flawed innings but one nobody else came close to matching. Jamie Smith fluffed his promotion to number six, offering no shot as Jamieson flattened off stump for one, and captain Ben Stokes was excellently caught by Williamson for 12 on his 35th birthday.
Jamieson, the 6ft 8in Aucklander who has been absent from Test cricket just as long as Robinson due to injury, picked up two more to claim five for 62 as New Zealand appeared to assume full control.
Robinson's Remarkable Over
Robinson had other plans. Wearing the number one shirt, an eye-catching change from his previous designation of 57, he served up his remarkable opening over to get the historic venue bouncing. Left-handers Conway and Ravindra had no response as he hunted their pads from round the wicket and Williamson sprung a smart bat-pad trap from Stokes.
He was still going strong when he cleaned up Daryl Mitchell shouldering arms, with Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue adding one each as the day's tally climbed to 16 wickets.
