Cook 153*, Stokes 101, Root 84
Stokes hits 85-ball ton, fastest at Lord's
First innings: Eng 389; NZ 523
First Test, day four, Lord's
Tim Southee returns to take charge of the new ball. Immediately, the sound as it strikes the willow is a firmer clunk. The New Zealand seamer gets some swing, particularly with one that drifts and nips away to beat Stokes' bat as he chases with a front-foot drive.
Image source, APPhilip Roberts: Think Stokes might take the stock to NZ when new ball comes, red leather flying everywhere.
Henry Ellison: The new ball is going to go a long way in deciding who might win this match. Three wickets this evening and NZ right on top.
Image source, PAHenry bowls the 80th over. Stokes and Cook steal a couple of singles before Stokes swivels to hammer a pull to deep square-leg for a third. The new nut is out of it's wrapper and shining brightly with potential menace. This is going to be very interesting.
Image source, AFPFormer England batsman Kevin Pietersen: He is a fantastic batsman #Cook.
Image source, Getty ImagesIt is pretty gloomy at HQ. Gloomier than the current Liverpool dressing room. Craig eats up another six balls before the new ball by twirling a series of looping deliveries to around off stump for Cook to pat back.
Image source, AFPJack Mendel: Surely it makes a bit more sense to have Ali at 6, as he's a top order player, & would be better vs 2nd new ball?
Come on Stokes, let's not do anything rash. He goes hard at Henry's second ball and almost drags it from outside off and on to his stumps with an inside edge from a back-foot flash. He gets two runs from it but it was too much risk, way too soon. Thankfully, he seems to realise his error and approaches the rest of the over with much more sense.
Image source, Getty ImagesCraig's job is an easy one first up as he rattles off the three balls remaining from his over hanging over from the rain/tea break.
Mark Craig to start with the ball, Ben Stokes to face.
The umpires are on their way out, followed soon after by the players. Big session coming up. A match-defining session. England lead by 127 runs with six wickets remaining. New ball pending.
Ian Borrett: Pro-Cook camp insufferably smug right now. My own take on him is that he is a great batsman, negative captain.
The covers are coming off at HQ. We're in line for a 15:50 BST restart.
Away from the ebb and flow of this absorbing Test, the Indian Premier League final is under way between two heavyweight sides at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
2013 winners Mumbai Indians are playing Chennai Super Kings - champions in 2010 and 2011 and runners-up three times - and have already lost a wicket, Parthiv Patel run out in the first over of the game.
England batsman Alex Hales, who is missing for Nottinghamshire after joining Mumbai on a short-term deal, was not selected for the final.
England wicketkeeper Matt Prior: Leading from the front. Champion. Well played Alastair Cook!
I'm going to (in cowardly fashion) duck any debate on the captaincy merits (or not) of Alastair Cook and focus solely on his batting at the moment. The 30-year-old has delivered a masterclass in building an innings in trying circumstances today (and a bit of yesterday).
It was testing last night and even more so this morning as Boult and Southee hooped it round corners and whipped away his initial partner Bell. But since then he has consolidated and then counter-attacked.
He ended 19 Tests without a century in the final game of the West Indies tour and now has two 100s in two matches. He is averaging just short of 65 this year.
Image source, Getty ImagesThanks Jamie. I'm pleased to report that the rain has pretty much stopped and the ground staff are taking a very casual approach to matters during this tea break. Hopefully, we won't have any problems cracking straight on after tea.
hollie: Landed just in time to hear Cook getting his well deserved 100. Makes the nerve-wracking wait on the flight worth it!
Image source, Getty ImagesWith tea at 15:40 in any case, we are going to take the interval now in the hope that the rain clears. The BBC weather app says the rain will clear in a matter of minutes - and that is never wrong - so hopefully we will be able to resume promptly. There are still 41.3 overs to be bowled today, and they will be described by Phil Dawkes.
Image source, AFPPaul in Manchester: Alastair Cook has batted well and has actually been in pretty decent form for a while. But that doesn't mean you can just dismiss all the criticism as idiotic. There are still some fairly big question marks over the decisions made in the past 18 months, his captaincy and the management of the team. As always, I think the truth lies somewhere between the two extreme positions.
Jeremy Coney
Ex-New Zealand captain on BBC Test Match Special
"New Zealand got the wicket that they wanted. They would love to have two prior to that second new ball, which is about three overs away. This gives them time to rest up their legs so they are ready when that 80th over strikes."