New Zealand 36-3 chasing 254 after England removes Williamson late on day two

LONDON (AP) — New Zealand was 36-3 in pursuit of an increasingly distant 254 runs to beat England after day two on a minefield of a Lord's test pitch on Friday.

England bagged the big wicket of Kane Williamson just 10 minutes before stumps. In likely his last innings at Lord's, Williamson missed a full length delivery from Josh Tongue that would have crashed into middle stump.

New Zealand started the day still finishing its first innings, which was wrapped up on 113, conceding a 27-run lead to England. New opening batter Emilio Gay with a match-high 57 runs led England to 226 in its second innings. That set New Zealand 254 to win, which requires the fifth highest successful run chase at Lord's.

But New Zealand hopes of adding to its one win at Lord's in 1999 were dramatically slashed in the last hour of the day when captain Tom Latham was out to the third ball of the chase from an unnecessary swat that edged behind, followed by the departures of Williamson and nightwatchman Will O'Rourke. Gus Atkinson had 2-10.

A shaky Devon Conway, on 12, will restart the Kiwi innings on Saturday, which has rain in the forecast.

“I'm new but it's such a relaxed dressing room,” Gay told the BBC. "There's a calmness and confidence that the next man in will do the job. We put a score together and three wickets tonight puts us in the driving seat.

“I have been nervous but the opportunity to play for England is such a cool thing. It's more excitement than nerves. I've dreamed of this for years.”

After 16 wickets fell on the first day, the second day saw 17 wickets taken. A total of 33 wickets have gone down in 137.2 overs, not one of them by a spinner. That's drawn increasing criticism of a perverse pitch that the fast bowlers are fully exploiting; three of them have taken five-fors.

One of them, New Zealand's Nathan Smith, told the BBC, “It's hard to say (if the pitch is bad), it's offering a lot for seamers in terms of lateral movement and now we're seeing a bit more variable bounce as well. It's good fun.”

The highlight of England's innings was Gay, the only debutant in the match. Picked on form after three recent centuries in the County Championship, he shrugged off his 8 in the first innings with an elegant half-century, an old school relic in England's aggressive Bazball era. Gay was compact and patient, impressive in tough conditions for a batter.

When he became the first England opener to score a fifty on debut at home in 22 years, Gay was all business, limiting his brief celebration to a couple of waves of his bat.

He was out for the game's highest score, 57 off 95 balls including eight boundaries, when he edged behind an out-swinger by Smith.

It sparked a mini collapse of four wickets in 11 balls for one run. Harry Brook (0), Joe Root (8) and captain Ben Stokes (0) were cut down by O'Rourke and Smith.

That reduced England from 126-2 to 127-6 in the afternoon.

London-born O'Rourke was revved up all day but somehow took out only Ben Duckett and Brook. Smith, on the other hand, was bowled longer than expected because Matt Henry, after his back spasms on Thursday, managed only 11 under-powered overs.

Smith was fiery and persistent, targeted off stump and got himself on the Lord's honors board with 6-70, his second five-for in his sixth test. Three of his six wickets were bowled and one, Root's, was lbw.

England needed Jamie Smith's 39 and Ollie Robinson's 29 after tea to compile a total that set a target that looked defendable but also teased New Zealand.

New Zealand, aside from being hamstrung by Henry’s injury, didn’t help itself with dropped catches and a missed review. Henry pinned Gay on his front pad on 24 straight after lunch but there was no review, and Rachin Ravindra and Conway dropped catches for the second day in a row.

Ravindra gave life to Duckett on 12 and Conway could have had Jacob Bethell on 8. The damage there was limited because Henry bowled Bethell on 14 with an unplayable daisy-cutter under his bat.

New Zealand was still finishing its first at-bat in the morning, resuming on 61-6 but all out for 113. Tongue quickly knocked over the off stumps of overnight batters Glenn Phillips and Nathan Smith. Those last four batters, though, added 84 runs.

Kyle Jamieson took a hit on his helmet from Tongue and then splashed 38 runs around Lord's but he was stranded when Henry was the last man out. That gave Robinson his test-best figures of 5-39, his first five-for since 2022 and first at Lord’s.

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England's Ollie Robinson appeals during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Kane Williamson leaves the pitch after losing his wicket during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Ben Stokes leaves the pitch after losing his wicket during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Jacob Bethell avoids a ball from New Zealand's Will O'Rourke during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Will O'Rourke celebrates taking the wicket of England's Harry Brook during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Nathan Smith, right, celebrates taking the wicket of England's Joe Root during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Emilio Gay celebrates his half century during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson plays a shot during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Ollie Robinson holds up the match ball after New Zealand are out for 113 during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Matt Henry bowls during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Nathan Smith fields the ball after bowling during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Armenia's parliamentary elections Sunday will be a vote on its geopolitical future as incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan seeks closer relations with the European Union and the United States despite longstanding ties with Russia that have been championed by his critics.

Many analysts favor Pashinyan's Civil Contract party to retain control of the parliament, but with many opposition parties running on pro-Russia platforms, the Caucasus nation's place on the international stage has been thrown into the spotlight.

In the months ahead of the election, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have warned Armenia that joining the EU could come at the expense of massive economic damage by disrupting Armenian trade ties with Moscow and its allies.

“These are the first elections in Armenia’s history where geopolitical orientation has become a decisive issue,” Mikayel Zolyan, an analyst and former member of the Armenian Parliament, told The Associated Press from Yerevan. “Until now, Armenia has remained within Russia’s sphere of influence, and this was taken for granted, but now, for the first time, this is being called into question.”

Relations between Moscow and Armenia soured in 2023 after Azerbaijan took control of the entire Karabakh region. The mountainous region had been controlled for decades by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia, part of a long conflict between the neighboring countries.

Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to the region of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, busy with the conflict in Ukraine, has rejected the accusations, arguing its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene.

“It turned out that Russia’s image as a guarantor of Armenian security was not based in reality, and it all collapsed after the Karabakh war,” said Alexander Iskandaryan, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan.

Pashinyan has begun cautiously weakening ties with Moscow, joining the International Criminal Court in 2023 and suspending its participation in the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2024.

Armenia also officially declared its aspirations to join the EU and hosted the European Political Community summit in Yerevan in early May.

A convincing win in the parliamentary vote would give Pashinyan a mandate to continue the trend and finalize a deal with Azerbaijan.

Western nations have sought to show some of the advantages that closer ties could bring.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to sign an agreement declaring an end to their decades-long hostilities and including provisions for the creation of a new transit corridor between Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan. An agreement in February could pave the way for a U.S. company to build a new nuclear reactor in Armenia.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also has said that Europe is ready to invest in Armenia's energy industry and its “booming digital scene.”

Trump has endorsed Pashinyan and called him a “great friend” and a leader who is making his country “strong, wealthy, and very secure!”

Much of Armenia’s opposition is still dominated by pro-Russia groups and many are also against normalizing relations with Azerbaijan. Key opposition figures have called for Pashinyan to stand down over the loss of Karabakh.

Nineteen political forces, including two blocs and 17 parties, are taking part in the elections.

Pashinyan’s main rival is the Strong Armenia Party, which wants closer business ties with Russia and accuses Pashinyan of attempting to spark a war with Moscow. The party is led by Armenian-Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who is on trial for calling for the overthrow of Armenia’s government. He denies the charges.

Other potential contenders include former President Robert Kocharyan, who leads the Hayastan bloc and has accused Pashinyan of “seriously undermining” relations with Russia.

Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, has warned that Yerevan’s Western turn could have dire political and economic consequences.

Putin has compared Armenia’s course to that of Ukraine in thinly veiled threats and has suggested Russia's conflict with Ukraine started with its attempts to join the EU.

In recent weeks, Russian has introduced new restrictions on Armenian produce after citing sanitation violations, banning Armenian flowers, certain types of cognac and wine, eggplants, potatoes, dried fruits, fish and more.

Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russian-led customs union, was placed under formal review during a members’ meeting in Kazakhstan in May, with threats to suspend it completely it by December.

During the Kazakhstan summit, the governments of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also demanded Armenia hold a referendum on whether it would remain in their group or seek EU membership. Pashinyan has rejected the need for such a vote.

Armenian government statistics show 38% of Armenia’s exports went to countries within the Eurasian Economic Union in 2025, the vast majority heading to Russia. In comparison, just 8% of trade went to the EU.

The Russian measures prompted von der Leyen to announce Thursday that the 27-nation bloc would send 50 million euros ($58 million) to support Armenia. In a statement, she said Russia is “weaponizing” economic relations and its ban on imports was “nothing short of economic coercion.”

Russia could exert further pressure on Armenia because it controls a significant portion of the country’s energy and infrastructure and supplies cheap gas.

“It’s completely unrealistic to say that Armenia can somehow overcome Russian influence in a short period of time,” analyst Zolyan said.

Armenia’s civil society also isconcerned by what they have described as Russian-backed disinformation campaigns ahead of the vote. Moscow denies any interference.

Daniel Ionnisyan, head of the Union of Informed Citizens, an independent election watchdog, told the AP that his organization has documented instances of Russian interference through social media campaigns, cyberattacks, vote buying and bribery of journalists.

That echoes findings of a delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which visited Yerevan in May and said foreign interference included illicit political financing, cyberattacks, economic coercion and direct attempts to manipulate the electoral process.

“These hybrid tactics aim not only to sway public opinion but to secure long-term geopolitical leverage over Armenia,” the delegation said.

Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

A man gestures as he and other supporters of Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, who heads Strong Armenia party, has faced criminal charges that he rejected as politically driven and campaigned from under house arrest, rally toward Republic Square against incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, Armenia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Supporters of Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, on screen, attend a rally against incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Supporters of Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, on screen, attend a rally with Armenian national flags against incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, as Karapetyan, who heads the Strong Armenia party, has faced criminal charges that he rejected as politically driven and campaigned from under house arrest. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Supporters of Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, wave a Armenian national flag during a rally against incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, as Karapetyan, who heads the Strong Armenia party, has faced criminal charges that he rejected as politically driven and campaigned from under house arrest. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)