Eng vs NZ: Root’s brilliant ton guides hosts to victory at Lord’s
England won their first Test match against New Zealand with five wickets in hand.
London [UK], June 5 (ANI): Unbeaten century from Joe Root and brilliant bowling by debutant Matty Potts helped England beat New Zealand by five wickets here at the Lord’s on Sunday.
England batter Joe Root completed 10,000 runs in Test cricket, becoming the second English player and 14th overall player to reach the landmark.
Coming to the match, England has won the match by five wickets, chasing down the target of 277. England has finished at 279/5 in 78.5 overs. Root’s unbeaten 115* took the team to a victory.
Earlier, batting first, New Zealand was bowled out for 132. Only all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme (42*) and Tim Southee (26) could offer some resistance as debutant Matty Potts (13/4) and James Anderson (66/4) shook the NZ batting lineup with their pace.
In the second innings, England became victims of the pace of Boult (3/21) and Southee (4/55) and was bundled out for 141, gaining a thin nine-run lead.
In the third innings, NZ looked in trouble at 56-4 but Daryl Mitchell (108) and Tom Blundell (96) turned the match on their head and performed a brilliant rescue act to help their side reach 285/10. This helped set up a target of 277 for England.
England will take New Zealand in the second test on June 10 in Trent Bridge Cricket Stadium.
Brief scores: New Zealand 132/10 and 285/10(Daryl Mitchell 108, Tom Blundell 96; Matty Potts 3/55)vs England 141/10 and 279/5 ( Joe Root 115*, Ben Stokes 54*; Kyle Jamieson 4/79). (ANI)
