England opened their three-match Test series against New Zealand at home with a 115-run victory over the touring Kiwis at the Lord’s on Sunday as Gus Atkinson starred with a five-wicket haul.
England, who
had posted just 140 in the first innings, limited NZ to 113, before setting the visitors a target of 254 to win in the second innings and bundling the Kiwis out for 138 as Atkinson wrapped up the NZ tail.
Kiwis won the coin toss and opted to bowl first as they managed to shock the hosts with Harry Brook’s half-century the lone shining light for the English as Kyle Jamieson starred with a five-wicket haul. Nathan Smith picked up three wickets while Will O’Rourke bagged a couple of wickets to close out the English innings.
England, too, fared exceptionally well with the ball in hand as Ollie Robinson logged a five-wicket haul, with Josh Tongue registering three wickets and Atkinson removed two wickets. Jamieson topped the NZ run charts with his 38-run knock, while Glenn Phillips posted 34 runs to take the Kiwis to 113 before being bundled out.
Emilio Gay’s 57-run innings and sizeable contributions from Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith to help ENG post a second innings total of 226, to set the Kiwis a target of 254 runs to win.
Atkinson starred for England in the final innings as he removed as many as five Kiwi batters, as Robinson and Tongue chipped in with a couple of wickets each and skipper Ben Stokes finishes with a wicket to his name as NZ’s effort fell flat despite Phillips’ 44-run knock and Devon Conway’s 41-run innings.
England will take on New Zealand in there second game of the series at The Oval, starting on the 17th of the month, before Trent Bridge hosts the concessionary game at Trent Bridge on the 25th of June.
