Guardian sport

England end New Zealand’s brief resistance to seal victory in first Test

Day four: England, 140 & 226, bt NZ, 113 & 138, by 115 runs Gus Atkinson takes five for 30 as bowlers dominate It may have been the pitch rather than any of the players that dominated this match but, for all that they will repeatedly have cursed its capriciousness, England will have forgiven it all the moment they completed victory in the first Test of the summer, bowling New Zealand out before lunch on the fourth day to win by 115 runs. Batting on this surface against an array of bowlers that proved ideal to profit from it ranged from awkward to impossible. The tourists went into the day on 55 for five and with 199 still required, and never looked likely to turn the game on its head. Continue reading...