ENG vs NZ

From long, frustrating weather watching windows to action-packed cricket, the 150th Test at Lord's served it all. New Zealand might have gone down by 115 runs. But the performance that the bowling attack put in, inspires hope and optimism, as Tom Latham mentioned in his post match interview. Will the visitors be able to bounce back in the second Test at the Oval? Or will England wrap the series there? We will find out together.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage of this Test as much as we did bringing it to you. Do join us in the future. This is Darpan Tikiya signing off on the behalf of the entire team. Sayonara!

Ben Stokes (England captain): "(Thoughts on the performance) Good result. Coming in after a long time, and putting the performance we did was heartening. Test cricket is tough, You never know what conditions you will get. 
 
(Discussions in the dressing room) Conversations this week were very quick to happen. With a lot of people in the dressing room, there can be a lot of ideas. But you try to be as clear as possible as a team when you go out on the park. It was a wicket that presented challenges as a batting unit. But also as a bowling unit. We were clear in our plans to the New Zealand batters.

(On Emilio Gay's half-century) Tough conditions. I said to Emilio Gay that it is on the top end of tough in Test cricket. The 57 he got was monumental in getting us a lead. Tough introduction to Test cricket and it would do him a world of good. 

(On Ollie Robinson) The skill that Ollie possesses has never been in question. Unbelievable ability to never miss where he's going to bowl. Emotional week for him. The attitude he has is incredibly competitive. Phenomenal bowler. As a bowling unit we were great."

Tom Latham (New Zealand captain): "(After getting England all out for 140, did they miss out?) I guess so. You always want to set the tone with new ball on day one. We had some really talented bowlers on show, who exploited the conditions well. We had our opportunities, but we did not grab them. We were not able to dig it through the tricky phase on day 1. But then, we even had opportunities in the second innings too. 

(On the pitch) It was a challenging surface, but we could not put partnerships either. We know things will be different at the Oval (where the second Test will be played). We'll take confidence from this game, especially with how our bowlers performed.

(On the catches they put down) It's those small moments that can sometimes swing the Test match. But it is not a lack of trying. Hopefully we can tighten those areas. 

(What was difficult about the pitch?) The up and down nature was tough. Sideways movement is okay, you can adjust. But when it is up and down, you can't trust the surface. We had two quality bowling attacks on display.

(Could they have attacked a bit more in the fourth innings?) Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The way GP (Glenn Phillips) played today was heartening. But we'll take the positives and move on."

Ollie Robinson says, "(Great comeback. Does it feel like a dream?) Huge dream. There was a time when I doubted if I will be back on the pitch for England. But to do it here is an amazing feeling.

(Was he nervous?) It was the worst feeling I had before a game. I had anxiety the day before. But after that 1st wicket, I calmed down. The crowd was fantastic. After the first over, they were so loud. 

(On the 3-wicket maiden) I have never done it before. It felt surreal. Don't have any words to describe how I felt. 

(On the pitch and their plans) We bowled really well. The pitch was up and down a bit, There was some seam movement. But our plans were really good and we executed them well. Enjoyable to be a part of that seam group. Gus (Atkinson) loves bowling here. (Josh) Tongue is an unbelievable bowler. Hopefully we can keep it going through the summer."

12:45 PM local time, 5:15 PM IST: England win by 115 runs and go 1-0 up in this series.

The 150th Test match at Lord's was dominated by conversations around the pitch and the weather. It might be Day 4 today, but we had only 166 overs in total in this match — and that makes it the second shortest ever in the 149 year history of this ground.

The bounce was uneven. For instance, Joe Bethell got dismissed in the second innings by a length ball that only got up to shin height. Off a similar length, the odd ball rose steeply — like the one that got Joe Root out in the first innings. The former was the more common sighting over the last 4 days. The Duke's ball hooped around in overcast conditions, making the batters' life further difficult. The fact that 24 out of the 40 dismissals where either bowled or LBW is a testimony to it. No overs of spin were seen.

England were bowled out for 140 on day 1, despite New Zealand losing the services of Matt Henry due to back spasms, after the fast bowler had only bowled 4 overs. Although, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke and Nathan Smith ensured that he was not missed. Jamieson, who was playing a Test after two years returned a fifer. A similar story was scripted in the second innings too, where Ollie Robinson, who was returning to England's Test team for the first time since 2024, took a fifer as the visitors crashed to 113 all out.

Riding on Emilio Gay's gritty and responsible half-century, the hosts notched up 226 in the third innings leaving a target of 254. Gus Atkinson stepped up in the fourth innings to return a a fifer as New Zealand got bundled out for 138 with Glenn Phillips left stranded at 44*. 

Apart from the above mentioned contributions, Harry Brook, after being dropped twice, scored a half-century in the first innings. Josh Tongue, who took 5 wickets across both innings was just as impressive as others in the bowling unit. 

A special mention to the glovmen of both the teams — Jamie Smith of England and Tom Blundell of New Zealand. For wicket-keeping in these conditions was not easy and both did a fine job.

40.3 Gus Atkinson to Matt Henry, KNOCKED 'IM OVER! Gus Atkinson gets a fifer — his love affair with Lord's continues. England win by 115 runs, on Day 4, in a Test match that has lasted less than 170 overs. Good length delivery that nipped inwards went through the gap between Henry's bat and body to clatter into the middle stick. Henry, like a true no.11, was in no position to play it. He was hopping, squared up, trying to fend it and could not. 

39.6 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, APPEAL FOR CAUGHT BEHIND! No cigar. They do not take the review either. Short ball that evaded Phillips' attempted pull shot and went through to Smith. More importantly, Henry will be on strike now.

39.5 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Hard length, in the channel outside off. Phillips jabs at it with an open face and runs it through the gap between gully and second slip. What does he do next?

39.4 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, wafts and misses. Fuller side of good length, outside off. Phillips looks to drive on the rise, and fails to connect.

39.3 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, very full, tailing in at the pads. Phillips unleashed a golf swing, but failed to lay bat on ball. He copped it on the front leg.

39.2 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, fuller side of good length, outside off. Phillps drives it to extra cover, calls two and then changes his mind midway through the first run, sending Henry back. 

39.1 Josh Tongue to Glenn Phillips, length ball at the stumps. Phillips wards it off to mid-on. The fielder there was placed on the boundary. He charged in quickly to thwart the possibility of a run, not that Phillips was interested.