1st Test, Lord’s
New Zealand – 132
England – 112/7
Playing XIs:
England: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (wk), Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (C), Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult.
New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson won toss and decided to bat first on a green pitch which was rather surprising to be honest.
They had the worst possible start and within first 5 overs both their opener Tom Latham (1) and Will Young (1) were back in pavilion. Anderson struck twice and Bairstow took two brilliant catches in the slip to leave NZ on 2-2. Debutant Potts stuck in his first over and got the big fish Kane (2) as his first test wicket.
Daryl Mitchell (13) Tom Blundell (14) showed some resistance but England bowlers were ruthless. Potts stuck twice again to leave NZ reeling at 36/6. Counter attack from Colin de Grandhomme (42 off 52) and Tim Southee (26 off 23) took NZ to a below par first innings total of 132. They got all out just before Tea on day 1.
James Anderson was back at his best, he took 4 wickets. In a memorable debut match, Matthew Potts took 4/13.
In reply, England had a bright start, Alex Lees and Zak Crawley scored a partnership of 59 runs for the 1st wicket in quick time. Southee gave them the first breakthrough in the 14th over when he trapped Alex Lees (25) LBW.
Zak Crawley scored 43 with 7 boundaries. NZ were on the back foot but as soon as he got out, NZ were all over England. From being 2 down for 75 they lost 5 wickets for 25 runs. England finished the day on 116/7 and still trailing by 16 runs. Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson took 2 wickets each.
Ben Foakes (6*) and Stuart Broad (4*) are on the crease and England will be hoping to get some lead on the second day.