Gus Atkinson struck twice late on the second day as England pressed for victory in the first test against New Zealand at Lord's on Friday.
New Zealand were 36-3 in their second innings at stumps, needing a further 218 runs to reach a victory target of 254 – what would be the highest total of a match where batsmen on both sides have struggled on a bowler-friendly pitch.
Their pursuit suffered a woeful start when captain Tom Latham fell for a third-ball duck, edging a loose drive off Atkinson to Harry Brook in the slips.
Gus Atkinson with the 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 start 👌 pic.twitter.com/2ZlSbDMZhZ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 5, 2026
Kane Williamson, in what could be the key batsman's final appearance at Lord's, battled hard in orthodox fashion for 18 before he was lbw to fast bowler Josh Tongue shortly before the close.
New Zealand sent out a nightwatchman in Will O'Rourke but he was bowled for a six-ball duck by paceman Atkinson, who had close figures of 2-10 in 3.5 overs.
Devon Conway was 12 not out.
Earlier, Jamie Smith helped England recover from a middle-order collapse before the hosts were dismissed for 226 in their second innings of a frenetic clash in north London.
Gay was England's top scorer in their second innings with 57 and wicket-keeper Smith made 39 in the 150th test staged at Lord's -- the most of any ground.
New Zealand quick Nathan Smith took 6-70.
Nathan Smith joins Kyle Jamieson on the board ✍️#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/eHRPEIwOwe
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 5, 2026
But given New Zealand were dismissed for just 113 in the first innings, they need a vastly-improved batting effort to prevent England going 1-0 up in the three-match series.
'TOUGH DAY'
"A tough day, the pitch had its demands," Gay told the BBC. "That's the beauty of test cricket, the challenges it brings.
"The most important thing was trying to embrace it and see it as an opportunity. When it's a low-scoring game, partnerships of 20 and little bits of momentum there are massive."
Nathan Smith, meanwhile, said: "The game has moved pretty quickly in the first couple of days. We lost one too many wickets tonight but the wicket (pitch) is offering a lot for the seamers."
England lost four wickets for just one run as 126-2 quickly became 127-6 before Smith steadied the ship in the 150th test at Lord's – the most of any ground.
Smith received good support from Atkinson during a seventh-wicket stand of 57.
But Atkinson gave his innings away on 14 when his miscued pull off Kyle Jamieson was caught by the towering fast bowler.
This is England's first test since a 4-1 series loss in Australia where they squandered several promising positions.
It appeared that they might be suffering a repeat of their Ashes debacle when Brook, fresh from a first-innings fifty, and England captain Ben Stokes were both dismissed without scoring on Friday.
There was little Jamie Smith could do when Nathan Smith bowled him with a delivery that kept low to end a 52-ball innings which included six fours.
England were 99-2 when Jacob Bethell was bowled by a Matt Henry delivery that kept low.
Gay, who survived a Henry lbw appeal when the Durham batsman would have been out for 24, pressed on to an 84-ball fifty, including seven fours, before he was caught behind off Smith to leave England 126-3.
Fifty on debut for Emilio Gay! 🤩
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 5, 2026
What a start to his Test career with England 🏴
🤝 @IGcom pic.twitter.com/bu24KGnI3B
Brook was trapped in front by O'Rourke for a duck and Joe Root fell in similar fashion to Smith for eight.
Stokes was bowled by an excellent Smith delivery that angled in before clipping the top of the left-hander's off stump.
Ollie Robinson made a useful 29 before he holed out off Smith to end the innings.
Before that, Robinson celebrated a five-wicket haul on his comeback to England duty.
The Sussex pace bowler, playing his first test in more than two years, produced a triple-wicket maiden on Thursday during a sensational return of 4-10 in six overs as New Zealand slumped to 61-6 at stumps.
He wrapped up the innings on Friday by bowling last man Henry for a duck to leave New Zealand 27 runs behind England's first-innings 140 all out.
Robinson finished with his test-best figures of 5-39 in 10.1 overs.
ENGLAND: Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
NEW ZEALAND: Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wkt), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke