Tom Blundell Bowled by Josh Tongue as New Zealand Slip to 28-6

Tom Blundell was bowled by Josh Tongue on the first day of the first men's cricket Test at Lord's, and New Zealand were already 28-6 when he walked off for 4 runs. The dismissal came in a collapsing innings, with England's quicks taking control early.

Josh Tongue at Lord's

Tongue sent Blundell's off stump flying with a 90mph delivery in the 13th over. Blundell had played the wrong line, and the ball beat him cleanly enough to finish one of the day's clearest passages of bowling.

That wicket followed a brief warning. Earlier, Blundell had edged Ollie Robinson in the 12th over, the ball bouncing short of gully before Jacob Bethell got down to half-stop it.

England's early pressure

Robinson had already built the squeeze with figures of 6-3-10-4 earlier in the innings, before finishing with 5-3-7-4. Those numbers left New Zealand under constant pressure, and Blundell's dismissal simply pushed the innings deeper into trouble.

Ben Stokes was among the England players in the field as the home attack kept the first men's Test moving in one direction. For New Zealand, the spell of quick wickets left little room to settle at Lord's.

New Zealand's collapse

By the time Blundell departed, New Zealand were 28-6 in their first innings. His four runs and Tongue's pace were part of the same problem: the visitors were losing wickets before they could build any resistance.

The innings now rests on whether anyone can slow the slide long enough to give the lower order a platform, but the early damage has already been done. England's bowlers have turned the opening day into a straight fight for survival for New Zealand.