Black Caps beaten by 115 runs in first test against England on lousy Lord’s pitch

Monday, 8 June 2026

First test at Lord’s, London: England 140 and 226 beat New Zealand 113 and 138 (Glenn Phillips 44no, Devon Conway 41; Gus Atkinson 5-30, Ollie Robinson 2-38, Josh Tongue 2-48) by 115 runs. Full scoreboard here

Black Caps skipper Tom Latham admitted things may have been different with a more attacking approach.

New Zealand were beaten by 115 runs in the first test at Lord's after being dismissed for 138 in their second innings overnight (NZ time).

Resuming at 55-5, with minimal hope of a comeback victory, the visiting side's batters had barely any chance to do so as the Lord's pitch again played tricks that were nigh impossible to solve.

That was the biggest factor in the test being the second-shortest at the London venue in its lengthy history in terms of balls bowled - 996, the third-fewest for any men's test match where both teams were bowled out in both innings.

A counter-attack by Glenn Phillips gave them a brief glimmer of chasing down 254 in the fourth innings for victory, suggesting an attacking approach was a better way to tackle the massive challenge of batting.

'I know the guys are already speaking about that - whether it was an opportunity to come out and be a little bit more positive,' Latham said in his post-match press conference.

'In saying that, the ball still was doing plenty and the result may have been the same. But whether we could have showed a little bit more intent, certainly if we're offered it.

“We saw GP [Phillips] today - I think the way he came out and played positive cricket, it's his natural game, but it put them under a little bit of pressure. I guess if we were potentially able to do that a little bit earlier then things may have been different.

'Whether you win or lose, you're always looking to fine-tune things, and things that you could maybe have done better, and I guess that could have been one thing.'

Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell perished early to a ball which cut back dramatically and kept low, trapping him lbw.

Glenn Phillips, who was resigned to laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation at times with the unplayable deliveries he faced, struck out in defiance with no shortage of ability. He ended unbeaten on 44, with seven fours and a six, and again pressed a case to bat ahead of Blundell at No.6.

Opener Devon Conway, who pursued a more defensive approach, was dropped on 22 by Harry Brook high at second slip and eventually perished for a dogged 41 from 91 deliveries - only debutant England opener Emilio Gay faced more balls in an innings in the test in his second bat.

Twenty-four wickets fell either bowled or lbw - a record for a test in England. After two years on the outer, England seamer Ollie Robinson relished the pitch present to return match figures of 7-77, while Gus Atkinson became the fourth consecutive bowler in the encounter to take a five-wicket innings bag, with 5-30 from 11.3 overs in NZ’s second dig.

Matt Henry was the last man out, barely able to bend after suffering a back problem bowling on day one, and has to be in doubt for the remainder of the series, with spin bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner a possible replacement in the XI, with Blair Tickner and Ben Sears the pace options.

Both teams' batting line-ups will be hoping for - and expecting - friendlier, flatter conditions in the second test starting on Wednesday week at The Oval.

However, New Zealand will now do so from a position of playing catch-up in the three-game series, and having seen their World Test Championship final hopes also take a blow.