James Anderson and Stuart Broad gave England hope of a sensational victory in the first Test as New Zealand’s top order collapsed at Lord’s in London yesterday.
The tourists saw their second innings get off to a dreadful start, with both openers out for a duck, and they were 12-3 when Ross Taylor was dismissed.
At lunch on the fifth and final day, New Zealand were 21-3, needing a further 324 runs to reach their victory target of 345, but, having outplayed England for much of the match, it looked as if they would do well to escape with a draw in the first of the two-Test series.
Photo: AFP
Kane Williamson, who made 132 in New Zealand’s first innings, was 7 not out and B.J. Watling 5 not out.
The second ball of New Zealand’s chase saw Martin Guptill caught in the slips by Gary Ballance off Anderson and the tourists were still on nought when Stuart Broad’s first ball of the second over had Tom Latham trapped leg before wicket for a golden duck.
For New Zealand, it was all starting to become horribly reminiscent of their previous Test at Lord’s, in 2013, when they collapsed to 68 all out chasing 239.
The Black Caps would have been 6-3 if Joe Root, at fourth slip, had not dropped Taylor off Anderson, but it made little difference as Broad, who took a Test-best seven for 44 against New Zealand at Lord’s two years ago, had Taylor plumb leg before wicket for 8.
Earlier, England resumed on 429-6, a lead of 295, with skipper Alastair Cook unbeaten on a commanding 153 — his second Test centuries in as many matches, but the first on home soil for two years — after Ben Stokes had struck the quickest Test century at Lord’s in terms of balls faced off just 85 deliveries.
The aggressive left-hander struck three sixes and 15 fours in an astonishing assault on the New Zealand attack to swing the match England’s way.
“It was good. I rode my luck a little bit, but you need a little bit to succeed. Things just went my way all day,” the 23-year-old told Sky Sports. “I felt I’ve got this far, I might as well keep having a hack. Things paid off.”
Stokes, who made 92 in the first innings, took a particular liking to fast bowler Tim Southee, launching him three times over the ropes at square leg and mid-wicket.
He pushed Matt Henry down the ground for four to reach 99 and nudged the single he needed to get to three figures in a Test for the second time, punching the air with delight.
“I was pretty nervous when I was in the 90s again, but to get that one away was a pretty special feeling, and to do it at the home of cricket was fantastic and something I’ll never forget.”
Cook’s marathon innings came to an end when, pushing forward to Trent Boult, he got an inside-edge and was caught behind by substitute wicketkeeper Tom Latham, although it needed a review to overturn the umpire’s original decision.
Cook batted for more than nine hours, facing 345 balls and hitting 17 fours. His innings extended the left-handed opener’s England record for most Test centuries to 27.
He needs just 32 runs in the second Test at Headingley to surpass Essex mentor Graham Gooch’s England Test runs record of 8,900.
Cook’s exit was the start of a Boult burst that saw the left-arm paceman wrap up the innings with four wickets for nine runs in 17 balls.
That meant Boult finished with fine figures of five for 85, which saw him gain a coveted place on the Lord’s honors board for the first time.
New Zealand’s target was one more than the highest-ever fourth innings score to win a Test at Lord’s of 344-1 by the West Indies against England in 1984.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS