England vs New Zealand Live Score 1st Test Day 3

Going in again - 12.07 pm update - 'Rain coming in now, from the southwest', another update from Nasser Hussain. The umpires have a look at the heavens, but play goes on. In fact, it does not, as the umpires have called for the covers. So after just 11 balls of play, we are back to waiting. The score has moved by a smidgeon, with a run added to the tally and now, the brollies have started to open up in the stands. The rain is getting heavier by the minute.

Game stopped due to : Rain Stoppage

Hurls a length ball outside off, Conway guards his stumps and shoulders arms.

Lands it on a good length around off, shaping in a touch. Conway gets forward and presents the full face of the bat, easing it towards cover. There is a brief thought of a single, but a quick 'wait, wait' sends Rachin Ravindra back as the fielder moves smartly around the ball.

Pulls his length back a bit, around off, Devon Conway goes on the back foot and defends it to the off side.

Atkinson goes full and angles it around off, Devon is on the front foot as he drives firmly. It goes back to the bowler, and Gus Atkinson collects it nicely.

'The rain has stopped', quips Mel Jones on air. Helpful. There is a bit of blue overhead. Helpful again. But three-fourths of the sky is engulfed with grey skies. Not helpful.

On middle and leg, Ravindra works it towards mid-wicket.

Got him, gone! Nope. My ears are twitching. Full and just outside off, Rachin Ravindra pushes at it and there is a noise as the ball shoots past the outside edge. But that did not possibly hit the bat as no one appealed.

The first run of the day. Slightly full outside off, DC pushes it towards cover point and the two batters scamper across.

On a good length, decent bounce outside off, Devon shoulders arms.

This one nips back in a long way. Conway lunges again but misses his tick, to get hit on the stomach.

Full and around off, Devon Conway leans and pushes it towards cover.

Ollie time? Without a doubt. Ollie Robinson will bowl from the other end, hunting for his first wicket in this innings.

Ohoy! We have a ball in play! On a length, around off, Ravindra, who is on a pair, bunts it out.

All set to play? We certainly hope so. The clock is about to tick past 1 pm local and the players are on the field for the first time today. However, some unwanted dark clouds have come in to spoil the fun. As long as they don't burst open, we can have some sort of action happening. Nothing is worse than sitting and just waiting for something to happen, but seeing nothing happen. Rachin Ravindra has come in at number 5, replacing the night watchman, Will O'Rourke, to join Devon Conway. Gus Atkinson will complete his over, but even before we can start, Nasser Hussain murmurs, 'It has started to rain.' Here we go again...

Ollie's London love - We are not too far from resumption (hopefully) and one bowler who would be eager to get things rolling is Ollie Robinson. Making a Test comeback after 2 years and picking up his first wicket after nearly 3 years would have given him immense pleasure. Add to it, of his 81 wickets in Tests, 33 have come in London (Lord's and Oval), which makes it a shade less than 50 percent. Delving further, 21 of those 33 have come at Lord's alone, with his lowest tally in an innings being 2 wickets! He would want to make use of the momentum and try and wrap this match tonight itself, hoping that we get at least 40 overs of play.

Runs galore in Mullanpur - 100 for KL Rahul. 103 for Shubman Gill and ongoing. 81 for Sai Sudharsan. 50 for Rishabh Pant and ongoing. Not unexpected, but Afghanistan would be happy with a bit of respite from the schooling that they have been given on the opening day of the only Test against India. After electing to bat, the hosts have piled on a mammoth 368/3 in 85 overs, with their only disappointment being Yashasvi Jaiswal missing out. Of course, critics will point at Rahul and Sudharsan not carrying on and getting bigger scores but as a team, India would be relatively pleased. A 600-plus score seems to be on the cards, with the second aim being to pick a couple of Afghan wickets before close on Sunday. Azmatullah Omarzai was the only bowler who seemed to keep the hosts under some sort of a leash while the rest of the inexperienced attack got put to the sword.

Lunch time! Technically, the first session has not been entirely washed out but the scorecards will not say so. As mentioned earlier, the groundstaff has had a discussion with the umpires and convinced the latter to call for an early Lunch, with the second session scheduled to start at Noon GMT. Of course, when this decision was being made, the conditions were bright and sunny and hopes were not shied of expecting a clear day for the remaining two sessions. If one of the peers in our group is to be believed, Saturday is forecast to have the worst weather of all the five days and looking at the radar, it seems like a massive wet band is approaching the ground, which puts the rest of the day in jeopardy. But since we don't play for the weather, the ECB has released the revised timings for today (In GMT) - Session 2 - Noon-1510. Tea - 1510-1530. Session 3 - 1530-1800. Buffer - Additional 30 minutes to make up for pending overs. As many as 86 overs are scheduled for the day! Wow. Bangladesh would willingly accept this challenge of bowling so many overs in a shorter stipulated time. All the best!

Eeni Meeni Miini Moh - 10.45 am GMT update - Remember this rhyme from our childhood days? Was fun, wasn't it? The weather at Lord's seems to be just like that. The sun is back in full glory and once again, the groundstaff is back at work. Have to feel for them, as the moment they are in their rhythm of removing the water on the covers, back comes the rain. Sometimes, feel like asking the clouds - Either stay or go away. What do you have in mind? Meanwhile, the official update from Lord's is that Early Lunch will be taken at 11.20 am GMT. Common sense has prevailed here, with the first session as good as being washed out, might as well take the break early.