Our second 100 run opening stand at Lords, ever.

All we've ever wanted has been two openers who can hold their own at international cricket. Two batsmen who can defend, show some mental fortitude and deal with good bowling, doing the dirty work for the rest of the team. It's all we've ever wanted.

Who knows, we may have found that, we may just find ourselves exactly where we've been so many times before; celebrating openers who then end up sucking.

But Tom Latham and Martin Guptill don't give me that fear for whatever reason. There isn't that uncertainty, that tense-ness that I used to feel as every new opening pair walked to the crease. I don't know, it just feels right.

Guptill made 70 while Latham 59, they could have both gone on to bigger and better scores, they could have both been back in the sheds much earlier. Maybe the reason that this opening stand felt so good was because it wasn't perfect and it was more about just getting through the tough times and setting things up for the team. You could look at them both getting healthy starts and not passing the hundred mark as a failure, but with the ability of our batsmen in the sheds, these two just need to see off the new ball and lay some sort of foundation down.

They did that and Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor then did their job. 

Williamson, not out on 92 was at his near best. Fuck, he's good. It's getting to the point where you've just got to watch him bat because the ease at which he scores runs is a joy to watch while his defensive abilities are equally as sublime. He's got the highest strike rate of any batsman to have batted so far in this game besides Ben Stokes, the same can be said about his boundaries. Nine of his 12 boundaries came on the off-side, mostly through the cover/point region and it's now his job to continue to stamp his mark on this game.

I mean, look at him...

It's always great to see Taylor get some runs as he's a bit more volatile than the Prince but equally as gifted. His 47 came in slightly more gritty fashion but both he and the Prince are still at the crease, which when you consider how Jos Buttler fell on the last ball of day one is a nice effort.

Buttler's wicket ensured that the Black Caps would have a slightly easier path to getting England back in the sheds early. We all love to celebrate our bowlers for their efforts at the start, nicking out the opposition's best batsmen and what not, but it's reasonably important to cut the tail off asap. Mark Woods and James Anderson fought hard, but we nipped it in the bud soon enough and in following with our #DoYourJob theme, the bowlers did their job this morning.

Also, it's clear that we are the better fielding side. In all aspects we are superior and it's great.

Also, Mark Woods looks the goods.

Day Three Mission Objective: Get the lead, make the lead bigger.

Enjoy Ya Dinner: Guppy and Tommo, job done lads, enjoy the show.

Daily Thought: Holy crap Stuart Broad sucks at batting.