England exploited to the full a Lord’s pitch once again offering erratic bounce and lateral movement on Sunday to win the rain-interrupted first test against New Zealand by 115 runs with a day and two sessions to spare.
New Zealand, set a daunting 254 to win the opening game in the three-match series, were dismissed for 138 before lunch on the fourth day after resuming on 55 for five in the 150th test at the home of world cricket.
The Marylebone Cricket Club issued a rare public apology after the milestone test turned into a bowler's paradise as wickets tumbled every 25 balls on average.
The first wicket of the day fell after only seven deliveries when paceman Josh Tongue jagged the ball late into wicketkeeper Tom Blundell (4) who was hit low on the back pads and given out lbw.
Tongue then had opener Devon Conway dropped on 24 by Harry Brook at second slip in his next over when the ball flew through the fielder’s outstretched hands as he reached in vain over his head.
Left-hander Conway battled his way to 41 from 91 balls when he was brilliantly caught low in the gully by Jacob Bethell off captain Ben Stokes’s bowling and Nathan Smith was then caught behind by Jamie Smith for four off Gus Atkinson.
PHILIPS RUNS OUT OF PARTNERS
Glenn Phillips, as he had in the first innings when he scored 34 in his team’s meagre 113, opted to play his shots, but soon lost his new partner Kyle Jamieson caught by Ben Duckett at short mid-wicket for six off Atkinson, who finished with five for 30 while man-of-the-match Ollie Robinson took two for 38.
Robinson, 32, who endured two years in the cricketing wilderness after the England management questioned his fitness and conditioning, made a sensational return to test cricket when he took three wickets in the opening over of New Zealand’s first innings on Thursday.
"The Lord's crowd was amazing," Robinson told Sky Sports. "I don't have words to describe what I felt but it was one of the highlights of my career. We bowled well and hit the stumps a lot. Our plans were clear."
Stokes, who endured a stressful stretch when his team lost the Ashes series in Australia in only 11 days of cricket, paid tribute to debutant opener Emilio Gay, who scored one of only two half centuries in the match on the unpredictable Lord’s surface.
"That's as tough as it gets in test cricket," Stokes said. "The 50 runs he got were priceless."
MCC ISSUES APOLOGY FOR LORD'S PITCH
The MCC said the weather was to blame for the condition of the pitch.
"We recognise that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted," it said in a statement after what was the second shortest test match at Lord's.
"We hold ourselves to the highest standards and are naturally frustrated when a surface falls short of those expectations."
The MCC blamed the challenging conditions on "unusually hot and dry weather" last month, followed by wetter conditions in the lead-up to the test which presented challenges in preparing the pitch.
The second test will start on June 17 at the Oval.
Source - Reuters
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