Debutant Emilio Gay called Day 2 "a bit of a whirlwind" after hitting a sedate fifty that helped England edge ahead of New Zealand in a fast-paced, low-scoring Lord's Test so far.

Gay's 57 off 95, only the second fifty of the ongoing Test, helped push England to 226 in their second innings. It set up a stiff 254-run target for New Zealand, who were shot out for 113 in the first innings, and were left tottering at 36/3 at the end of the second day.

For Gay, any debut jitters would have only merged with the frenzied state of play so far, with 33 wickets falling across the first two days of Lord's milestone 150th Test.

"It was a surreal day yesterday and then today was a bit of a whirlwind," Gay said. "I think the whole couple of days felt like a bit of a dream: 40,000 fans at Lord's, tough conditions, getting my cap, family being here. I'm trying to lap it all in and enjoy it."

Gay stitched together steady stands with fellow opener Ben Duckett, and then No.3 Jacob Bethell: at 126/2, England looked set to take the game away from the tourists. However, Gay's dismissal sparked a stunning collapse: in two overs, they slipped to 127/6.

"I was disappointed when I got out - the overheads, the lights were on and Brooky and Rooty followed soon after," he said. "There was a natural disappointment that I had done all the hard work, faced nearly 100 balls, so the timing of it was a bit frustrating. I got a pretty good ball, but it felt like a real shift in momentum."

Gay had fallen for eight in the first innings - one of Kyle Jamieson's five victims - as England folded for 140, with only Harry Brook (56) crossing 20. However, they raced back into the game by cutting open New Zealand's top-order, with Ollie Robinson, playing his first Test in over two years, leading the charge with 5-39.

Gay admitted that even through Robinson's spell, he was still coming to terms with how surreal the entire scenario was for the debutant.

"When Robbo (Ollie Robinson) was on a hat-trick and I was at short leg and the crowd was as loud as they've been I was just looking around," Gay said. "(Substitute) Sonny Baker came on to stand at mid-on or midwicket. I was looking at him, and he was looking at me. We spoke afterwards and it was like: 'Can you believe this? This is mental. This is what we are doing'.

"When I was batting, it was about seeing the ball, trying to get stuck in but when I was fielding, especially when wickets were falling [is when it really sunk in].

"I think fielders think I'm daydreaming but I'm not. I'm just trying to lap it all up. It's not really going to get as good as this, these last two days, so hopefully it keeps that way."

At stumps on Day 2, New Zealand were 36/3, still needing 218 runs to win.