England vs New Zealand 1st Test: Ben Stokes side collapse to leave game evenly poised

England's dismal batting continued as they lost seven wickets for 41 runs to limp to the close at 116 for seven after New Zealand seamers Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson picked up two wickets each.

England captain Ben Stokes (left) speaks to pacer Matthew Potts on Day 1 of first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. (Photo: Reuters)

A familiar England batting collapse left the hosts 16 runs behind New Zealand as wickets tumbled on a frantic first day of the opening Test at Lord’s on Thursday. England made an excellent start to their new era under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum by dismissing New Zealand for 132 inside two sessions.

But their dismal batting continued as they lost seven wickets for 41 runs to limp to the close at 116 for seven after New Zealand seamers Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson picked up two wickets each. England openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley shared a solid partnership of 59 before Crawley was caught behind off Jamieson for 43.

A dramatic first day at the @HomeOfCricket!

Catch up on the scores | https://t.co/o0NeY2jQTq #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/oLsgvWbXsW — BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 2, 2022

Jamieson removed Ollie Pope for seven in his first innings at No. 3 and Colin De Grandhomme dismissed Joe Root for 11 when the former captain`s trademark back-foot punch was well caught by Southee at gully. Southee trapped Lees lbw for 25 and Stokes was caught behind, the skipper walking off angrily after scoring one run off nine balls.

Boult removed Jonny Bairstow (1) and debutant Matthew Potts (0) in the same over as England’s batting crumbled in similar fashion to their recent series defeats in the West Indies and Australia. Ben Foakes, on six, and Stuart Broad (4) will resume the innings on the second day.

Potts, Anderson shine with ball

Earlier, England’s impressive bowling and slick catching helped them bundle out New Zealand inside two sessions following Kane Williamson’s decision to bat first. The hosts’ brilliant display was headlined by Potts, who picked up 4/13 and took two catches, as well as veteran seamer James Anderson, who bagged 4/66 on his return to the side after being dropped for the tour of the Caribbean.

Potts removed Williamson for two to claim his first test victim and Anderson picked up two early wickets and two more in the second session. Broad, second on England’s all-time list of test wicket takers behind Anderson, also took a wicket and Stokes bagged the final one to end New Zealand`s disappointing innings.

De Grandhomme’s unbeaten 42 helped New Zealand recover from 39/6 at lunch after only two of their top six reached double figures, and Southee contributed a useful 26. Lord’s paid tribute to former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne when play was paused in the 23rd over of New Zealand`s innings for 23 seconds of applause.

Warne, who wore the number 23 on his one-day international shirt, died in March at the age of 52.

Brief scores: New Zealand 1st inngs 132 in 40 overs (Colin de Grandhomme 42 n.o., Tim Southee 26; Matthew Potts 4/13, James Ander 4/66) vs England 1st inngs 116/7 in 36 overs (Zak Crawley 43, Alex Lees 25; Kyle Jamieson 2/20, Trent Boult 2/15, Tim South 2/40)

(with Reuters inputs)