England pace bowler Ryan Sidebottom returned to form in spectacular fashion with four wickets for five runs in New Zealand's 277 all out on the second day of the first Test at Lord's.

Sidebottom failed to take a wicket on the opening day, struggling with his direction from both ends. Bowling from the Nursery End on day two, he recaptured his line and length, moving the ball late into the right-handers and clean bowling his last three victims.

After six interruptions for bad light, England reached 68 for no wicket in reply with Alastair Cook on 43 and Andrew Strauss on 24 and neither opener looking in any trouble.

New Zealand crawled from 208 for six overnight to 260 at eight at lunch in a morning of dour, attritional cricket on another cool, overcast day.

Jacob Oram again suppressed his attacking instincts, moving cautiously to 28 in 146 minutes before he became Sidebottom's first victim of the match, caught by Strauss at first slip.

Captain Daniel Vettori struck the only two boundaries of the morning session, smacking James Anderson to the cover boundary and sweeping Monty Panesar for another four.

Kyle Mills lingered for 66 minutes and 10 runs before he was bowled by Sidebottom and Tim Southee could make little of the left-hander, surviving a series of impassioned lbw appeals before he was bowled for one.

Vettori, who had enlivened proceedings briefly with three successive fours off Anderson, was bowled by Sidebottom two short of his 50 to conclude the innings.

Reuters