England wins by 124 runs at Lord's   26 May 2015

DAY FIVE:

First Innings: England 389 (Root 98, Stokes 92; Henry 4-93, Boult 4-79) v BLACKCAPS 523 (Williamson 132, Guptill 70) in the First Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Second Innings: England 478 (Cook 161, Stokes 101; Boult 5-85, Henry 2-106) beat the BLACKCAPS 220 (Anderson 61, Watling 59; Stokes 3-38, Broad 3-50) by 124 runs.

After a gripping battle for five days, the BLACKCAPS have lost the First Test to England by 124 runs at Lord’s.

England, who resumed on 429-6 this morning with a lead of 295 runs and four wickets in hand, added 49 more runs to set the BLACKCAPS 345 runs to win in 76 overs.

Scorecard 

The BLACKCAPS adopted the “if in doubt take the aggressive option” mind-set and looked to win for the first time at the Home of Cricket since 1999.

After a tough start at 12-3, the visitors battled hard for the draw but they lost wickets at regular intervals which always made England the favourites to continue their fantastic record at Lord’s.

Matt Henry and Trent Boult held on as best they could for the 10th wicket partnership that lasted eight overs before Moeen Ali claimed a fine catch at Third Man from the bowling of Stuart Broad. The BLACKCAPS were eight and a half overs from salvaging an unlikely draw.

Moeen Ali claimed a fine catch to seal the win for England.

A poor start, when the BLACKCAPS lost openers Martin Guptiil (0), second ball of the innings, and Tom Latham (1) the following over, put the run chase beyond reach.

The BLACKCAPS staged a mini-recovery when Kane Williamson (27) formed a 49 run partnership with BJ Watling, who was promoted ahead of skipper Brendon McCullum.

Williamson, who added his name to the Lord’s Honours Board in the First Innings with 132, fell in the 24th over when Joe Root claimed a fine low catch in the gully from the bowling of England’s man-of-the-match Ben Stokes.

The situation worsened for New Zealand when Stokes removed McCullum (0) with a superb in-swinging delivery first ball that cramped the skipper and cleaned up his stumps.

Brendon McCullum was undone by a beauty from Ben Stokes first ball

England believe that in Stokes, who scored the fastest Test century at Lord’s off only 85 balls, they have unearthed an all-rounder in the mould of Andrew Flintoff or perhaps even England’s greatest all-rounder Ian Botham.

All of a sudden Lord’s was alive as the locals believed that a famous win was now inevitable, but Watling (59) and Corey Anderson (67) had other ideas and fought valiantly.

Anderson played his natural game for a run-a-ball half century while Watling, with injuries to his knee and his neck during this Test, at the other end was unmovable in defence in his innings of 59 from 143 deliveries.

They combined for a 107 run partnership, which lasted almost 27 overs and brought the BLACKCAPS back into the Test match.

The wicket-keeper batsman was undone when debutant Mark Wood cramped him with a well-directed bouncer that flicked the glove on the way through to Buttler.

Part-time off-spinner Root trapped Anderson in front in the 54th over. The big all-rounder reviewed the decision and it was shown to be clipping leg stump and the Umpire’s Call was upheld in a controversial decision.

Tim Southee (20) fought in a carefree fashion at the end but the final four wickets fell and England maintained their near-perfect record at the Home of Cricket.

Earlier in the day, Trent Boult claimed the final four wickets for a five wicket bag to add his name to the Lord’s Honours Board for the first time.

Boult produced a superb spell of swing bowling to take the wickets of Alistair Cook, Ali, Stuart Broad and James Anderson to restrict the hosts on the final morning.

The 25-year-old, who earlier this year was the joint-leading wicket taker at the ICC Cricket World Cup, finished the match with figures of 5-85 from 34 overs for his fourth five wicket bag in Tests.

He became only the sixth New Zealand bowler on the famous Honours Board in the Away Dressing Room following [Sir] Richard Hadlee (1978, 1983, 1986), Dion Nash (1994), Chris Cairns (1999), Daniel Vettori (2008) and Southee (2013).

But ultimately New Zealand, who competed for long periods of the First Test, were beaten by England who dominated the final two days of the Test match.

The BLACKCAPS will travel to Leeds tomorrow morning where they will look to fight back in the Second Test and square the series at Headingley. 

DAY FOUR

First Innings: England 389 (Root 98, Stokes 92, Buttler 67, Ali 58; Henry 4-93, Boult 4-79) v BLACKCAPS 523 (Guptill 70, Latham 59, Williamson 132, Taylor 62, McCullum 42, Watling 61*; Broad 3-77, Wood 3-93, Ali 3-94) in the First Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Second Innings: England 429-6 in 118 overs (Cook 153*, Root 84, Stokes 101, Henry 2-106, Southee 2-129) lead by 295 runs with 4 wickets in hand.

Scorecard

England has dominated day four of the First Test with centuries from Alistair Cook and Ben Stokes to be in a commanding position heading into the final day at Lord’s.

The hosts, who began the day on 74-2 and trailing by 60 runs, finished the day on 429-6 and will take a lead of 295 runs into the final day as they look to continue their fine record against New Zealand at Lord’s.

On a day when he was under pressure, Cook (153*) delivered the perfect captain’s knock for England while Stokes (101) flayed the Kiwi attack to record the fastest Test century at Lord’s in a memorable day for the hosts.

New Zealand-born Ben Stokes played a blistering hand for England. Photos: Photosport

Cook will return at the start of the final day with Moeen Ali (19*) with four wickets in hand.

Matt Henry (2-109) and Tim Southee (2-129) were the best of the BLACKCAPS' bowling attack who toiled hard without reward as England batted with control, character and flamboyance. The BLACKCAPS, looking to win at the Home of Cricket for the first time since 1999, got off the perfect start when Southee removed Ian Bell (29) on the third ball of the day.

England were 74-3 and looked vulnerable in the overcast morning conditions with the BLACKCAPS seam attack once again asking a number of questions of the Cook and Joe Root. But the English skipper and the country’s brightest Test talent for a number of years weathered the storm, and then flourished. They put on a 158-run partnership for the fourth wicket which set up the innings.

Cook was back to his controlled and determined best. He brought up his 27th Test century with an off drive to the boundary. It was his fourth century at the Home of Cricket and perhaps one of the most important, as England are now in a position to win the Test match.

Alistair Cook weathered the BLACKCAPS' testing early swing before powering to a class century

From being 30-4 on the morning of day one, this has been a remarkable turnaround for the home side. New Zealand continued to fight hard, and chased everything in the field with real purpose. Henry finally removed Root (84) with a bouncer that was caught on the fine leg boundary by Trent Boult. Root, dubbed England’s captain-in-waiting, will have to wait for his name to be added to the Honours Board.

Stokes came to the crease and played his natural aggressive game to make it a day to remember for England. The 23-year-old New Zealand-born English allrounder got past three figures in only 85 deliveries.

Stokes, who combined with Cook for a 132-run partnership for the fifth wicket, hit 15 fours and three sixes as he took on the BLACKCAPS pace attack and reaped the rewards. Once he went past the milestone, Stokes looked to attack further, and he got a thick edge off Mark Craig which was claimed at first slip by Ross Taylor.

England’s wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler (14) went cheaply went he was caught behind by stand-in keep Tom Latham from the bowling of Henry. That brought Moeen Ali came to the crease to join Cook and the pair remained unbeaten at the close of play to cap a fine day for England.

New Zealand will look to regroup tonight and push for a strong finish to the First Test which has been an enthralling contest for all five days.

The final day of the First Test at Lord’s will begin at 10pm NZ time (11am at Lord's).

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