Stokes dismissed Williamson, McCullum and Craig
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England all-rounder Ben Stokes and pace bowler Stuart Broad took three wickets apiece to help their side register a memorable 124-run win over New Zealand on the final day of the first Test at Lord’s.
Starting out the day on 429/6, England failed to muster many more runs as New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult ripped through the hosts’ lower order to dismiss them for 478, which set the Black Caps a target of 345 runs to win.
Boult picked up his fourth five-wicket haul, while Tim Southee and debutant Matt Henry snapped up two wickets apiece and Mark Craig chipped in with one.
Boult celebrates after picking up his five-wicket haul
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Chasing 345 to win, New Zealand got off to the worst possible start as opener Martin Guptill was caught behind off the second ball of the innings, which was bowled by James Anderson.
Tom Latham failed to trouble the scorers as well as he was given out lbw off the bowling of Broad for a golden duck.
Ross Taylor only made eight runs before he was also given out lbw off the bowling of Broad.
Kane Williamson managed to make 27 runs before he was caught by Joe Root at gully off the bowling of Stokes.
Stokes struck again the very next ball when he clean bowled New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum for a golden duck.
BJ Watling and Corey Anderson stemmed the bleeding with a 107-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Watling was caught behind off the bowling of debutant Mark Wood.
Watling’s valiant knock of 59 came off 143 balls, which included nine boundaries.
Watling scored a valiant 59
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Anderson went on to score 67 off 87 deliveries, which included 13 boundaries and a six, before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Root.
Anderson made a gutsy 67
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Anderson decided to review the decision, but replays showed that the ball was pitching in line and clipping leg stump. This led to the third umpire upholding the original decision.
Craig mustered four runs before he was cleaned up by Stokes.
Southee made a quickfire 20 before he was caught and bowled by Moeen Ali.
England sealed the deal when Boult was caught by Ali at third man off the bowling of Broad for 10 runs.
Stokes and Broad took three wickets apiece, while Anderson, Wood, Ali and Root claimed one wicket each.
Broad finished with figures of 3-50 off 16.3 overs
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McCullum was gutted to have lost the match, and said: “The boys are obviously hurting but I thought we played our part in a tremendous Test match that was a great advertisement for the game. Credit to England, they fought through the game, played an enterprising brand of cricket. We played the brand of cricket we want to play as well, it was an entertaining game. We got 700 runs in the game and still lost by 100, it was a fantastic pitch, great crowds. All credit to Alastair and his team, we’ll come back at them at Headingley.
“Such a fine line between success and failure when you’ve got two good teams. We passed the bat but couldn’t take the wickets we wanted. Root and Stokes played with freedom and put us under pressure and got them back in the game. To lose three of your top six in a few balls kind of undermines you. [Decision to drop down] BJ is a fighter and we felt if we could build a partnership between those guys, myself and Corey could provide a second wave of attack later in the game. We weren’t able to do that but that was the plan. Delighted with the way the bowlers bowled, we still took 20 wickets, they kept running in, even with significant workloads. We’ve got a few days to rest and recover and re-plot our strategy. Should be another cracking Test match.”
England skipper Alastair Cook was delighted to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “Little bit of frustration because of Trent and Matt but thankfully Moeen hung on. [Best innings on Sunday?] Certainly up there, those guys bowled incredibly well, Tim and Trent put us under pressure and we lost Ian early. But we got a little bit of luck and got through it and then Ben played one of the best innings I’ve seen, a fantastic knock. On day three we bowled pretty well, didn’t quite get it right on day two. Fought hard on a great wicket. It was a real team effort this week, been a rocky road over the last two weeks as a side, so to come out with a win, we can be very proud of that.
“We’ve been incredibly lucky with the support we have, to have a full house on the fifth day of a Test match, it’s been a great spectacle…When Stokesy got two wickets in two balls, I can’t remember Lord’s ever being louder. [Recent upheaval, new coach?] Today we just want to concentrate on what a fantastic Test match it’s been. All the other external stuff, we’ll let that be what it is, we’re a little bit in limbo…but if we play like that in limbo I’ll be very happy.”
Stokes was named Man of the Match for scoring the fastest Test century at Lord’s and for taking three key wickets in the second innings.
“Yeah, been fantastic, great crowd response,” he said. “Been striking the ball well in the nets but didn’t expect it to go quite that well. There was always opportunities to score, they were attacking us, Lord’s is a very fast-scoring outfield so you pick up boundaries and me and Joe just tried to get on with it.
“It’s great to have fun with your mates, Joe’s in great form, we’re calling him the Don at the moment. [Crowd response?] They’ve been behind us the whole day and we owe a massive debt of thanks to them. [Parents back in NZ] They’re pretty weary, staying up to watch, but pretty pleased as well.”