NZ bundled out for 132
England dismantle Kiwis
Friday, 3 June 2022
LONDON, June 02 (AFP): England debutant Matthew Potts and recalled great James Anderson took four wickets apiece as New Zealand were dismissed for just 132 on the opening day of the first Test at Lord's on Thursday.
Potts took four for 13 in 9.2 overs and Anderson, who had earlier reduced the World Test champions to two for two, four for 66 in 16 in what was England's first match under their new leadership duo of captain Ben Stokes and red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand skipper.
New Zealand were in dire straits at 45 for seven after captain Kane Williamson's decision to bat first.
But all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme's unbeaten 42 was the cornerstone of a late-order rally featuring handy contributions from Tim Southee (26) and Trent Boult (14).
Stokes, who dismissed last man Boult, might not have bowled at all but for Durham team-mate Potts going off with cramp in his left leg.
England left-arm spinner Jack Leach had to leave the field barely half an hour into the day's play after landing on his head and neck when stopping a boundary.
Leach was later ruled out of the match due to symptoms of concussion, with England summoning uncapped Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson from Manchester as a concussion substitute.
New Zealand often looked what they were -- a team who had played just two warm-up matches in England ahead of this three-match series -- as all of their top four, including star batsman Williamson fell in single figures.
Anderson and Stuart Broad, England's two most successful Test bowlers of all time, with 1,177 wickets between them prior to this match, had both been controversially left out of a 1-0 series loss in the Caribbean earlier this year.
But the 39-year-old Anderson was soon back in a familiar groove as he removed openers Will Young and Tom Latham with the aid of two slip catches by Jonny Bairstow.