New Zealand neutralise Australia's destructive opening duo

OWEN RILEY AT LORD'S: At the home of cricket, Kane Williamson's New Zealand have succeeded where many before them have failed

Trent Boult is running in as fast as seems humanly possible in such stifling heat. Somewhere behind the stumps, Tom Latham must be moments away from spontaneously combusting underneath that black cap, those dark layers, pads and gloves.

Boult releases his 17th dart of the day, it seams back into Aaron Finch and nestles into his bright yellow pads as it heads for the top of middle and off.

Finch takes a swipe at the Lord’s turf as he heads back to the pavilion at 1.38pm. The skipper making the long march back through the Long Room far sooner than those clad in green and gold would have hoped.

The captain had already been given a life of sorts with a tough chance put down by Martin Guptill at short cover, hammered to his right, slamming into his palm and back out.

Guptill, this time at second slip, saw another fail to stick. This one down low to his right once more - off Boult - as Usman Khawaja felt for one in the area of his off peg second ball.

More from Martin later.

^{Warner on the receiving end of Ferguson's short stuff}

David Warner is stomping back towards a stand mottled with white and eggshell blue - you know it is hot when the MCC members are without jackets.

Lockie Ferguson’s first delivery - clocked at 142kph - has just kissed the wicket and then risen, lifting up and up towards Warner’s chin. The opener can’t keep his bat from meeting leather and Latham does the rest with the mitts.

Ferguson doesn’t look back to check. He knows. The man in red and a wide-brim hat raises the finger and New Zealand have punched a major hole in Australia’s order inside 10 overs.

The trick it seems, is to take out Australia’s top two as soon as possible. Easy as that, ay? 

Finch and Warner have been in rare form in England, sharing opening stands of 96, 15, 61, 146, 80, 121 and 123 before today. In Australia’s past four World Cup matches, at least one of the two have struck a century.

The opening duo are like robust powder kegs with arms, ready to ignite at any moment, poised to raise hell if given the opportunity.

Get them out of the vicinity early doors and things start to look a whole lot more manageable for the bowling side.

^{Ferguson celebrates the wicket of Steve Smith}

Steve Smith follows in the footsteps of Finch and Warner, returning to the pavilion not long after he and emerged from it. Has he seen a a ghost? Has someone just told him that his Vodafone Roaming charges are in fact, through the roof?

No. He’s just seen Guptill pluck a tracer bullet from the baking St John’s Wood sky. The fielder appeared to be momentarily stuck in the atmosphere as he intercepted Smith's pull, before gravity did its work, hurling him back into the scorched soil with the white nut still firmly in his grasp.

So Guptill, who has ‘dropped’ two, takes an absolute monster, arguably the best catch of the tournament so far. 'Ben Stokes', I hear you say, but in terms of reaction time (somwhere between 03. and 0.6 seconds I hear), Guptill takes this one. 

Australia’s top three are back in the shed. Now New Zealand can go to work on Australia’s underbelly.

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