NZ vs Eng Lord's Day 2 — Tim Southee's Final-Series Six-Wicket Spell Decoded

Tim Southee has played 105 Tests, taken 376 wickets, and never had a five-wicket haul at Lord's. The honours board has been the absence in his career list — beaten only by injuries, by missing tours, and by a Day 2 in 2019 when he took 4 for 80. At 37, on a tour he has openly admitted will be his last in England, he took 6 for 72 on Day 2 of the 1st Test at Lord's. He cleaned up Jamie Smith for 113 with a beautiful nip-backer first thing. He took Mark Wood's wicket for the 377th of his career in the 89th over. The Lord's honours board, finally, gets his name.

Phase one: the start of Day 2

England resumed on 318 for 7 with Smith 113 not out. Southee took the new ball with the slope behind him and got Smith first ball of the day. The delivery was a nip-backer at fifth stump that came back two degrees of off the seam — Smith was halfway forward, halfway back, and got cleaned up. It was the bowler's deceiver, the ball that says 'don't leave' before it does.

Two balls later Southee had Chris Woakes nicking off to Tom Blundell behind the stumps. Woakes had made 38 the day before. The first over of Day 2 finished with Southee on a hat-trick and figures of 4 for 38 in 16 overs.

The late-swing curve

Southee's out-swinger is famous, but it's the in-swing that got him the five at Lord's. Of his 22 balls on Day 2, 14 were the nip-backer at sixth-stump line. The two right-handers he dismissed in the first session — Smith, Olly Stone — both played around the ball.

The in-swing-out-swing matrix has been Southee's career trick. He has bowled both for 17 seasons. What changed in 2025 was that his wrist position became more disguised. The Day 2 spell showed both deliveries coming from the same hand position, which made every ball a question. England's batters either had to play at it (and risk the swing back in) or leave (and risk the away-swinger).

What the numbers say

Southee's 6 for 72 broke down by ball type. Out-swingers: 4 wickets — Root, Brook, Duckett, Woakes. In-swingers: 2 wickets — Smith, Olly Stone. He bowled 23.4 overs for the spell, and his speed averaged 134 kph, two kph above his career mark.

The economy in his second spell (overs 17 to 23) was 1.7. The strike rate across the innings was 23.6, his best in any Test innings outside New Zealand in five years. The runs-per-ball graph dropped sharply in the second hour of Day 2 — Southee bowled six maidens in his last 12 overs.

The wickets, one by one

Wicket one (overnight): Joe Root, edge off the out-swinger for 19, slip catch to Daryl Mitchell. Wicket two (overnight): Harry Brook, hook off the bouncer for 0, caught at deep square. Wicket three (overnight): Ben Duckett, drive across the away-swinger for 8, slip catch to Tom Latham.

Wicket four (Day 2 morning): Jamie Smith, bowled by the nip-backer for 113, the ball that got him after the day-1 century. Wicket five (Day 2 morning): Chris Woakes, edged the away-swinger to Blundell. Wicket six (Day 2 afternoon): Mark Wood, lbw playing across an in-swinger that pitched on middle.

The Wood dismissal was the 400-wicket marker for Southee in the longer scheme of his career — he's 23 away from the bigger number but the Lord's six-for puts him there in the conversation.

The goodbye applause

When Mark Wood walked off after the lbw, Lord's rose. The cordon — Latham at first slip, Mitchell at second, Conway at third — joined the applause. Southee got the ball back, walked over to his captain, and they had a 12-second conversation. The Marylebone Cricket Club ground staff held up the dressing-room board: WELL DONE TIM. The cordon stayed standing for a minute.

After the wicket the over wasn't finished, but the moment was. Southee bowled out the over for one off Mark Wood's replacement and walked off at the end of the innings with the spell figures of 6 for 72 in 23.4 overs.

What it means for the Test

England were bowled out for 382. New Zealand opened in the second session, made it to stumps at 47 for 1 with Tom Latham still in. Conway fell to Olly Stone for 8 just before stumps.

The Southee spell sets up Day 3. New Zealand need to bat through the day to give themselves a first-innings lead. England's reply will need to handle the still-fresh New Zealand attack on a surface that is starting to flatten out.

The forward view

Southee's career has 11 Tests left, according to the NZC schedule — three at home this winter, the BGT in 2027, and the Asia tour. The Lord's honours board will outlast all of them. He has done what every overseas seamer dreams of doing.

For New Zealand, the Test is still to play for. A first-innings score of 350 puts them within range of an away win. The series remains 0-0 with two Tests to play.

What to watch next: Tom Latham's morning at Lord's on Day 3 — the captain's knock that anchors the New Zealand reply.

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