England's players hug Moeen Ali after he caught out New Zealand's Trent Boult to win the match. Photo / AP
England's players hug Moeen Ali after he caught out New Zealand's Trent Boult to win the match. Photo / AP
England win by 124 runs Boult dismissed with 9.3 overs remaining England set 344 to win, NZ out for 220 Anderson 67, Watling 59 Guptill, Latham, McCullum out for ducks Man of the match - Ben Stokes
The gloom loomed early on the final day of the first test for New Zealand asEngland's bowlers scythed through them to win by 124 runs.
The sky darkened but the lights helped illuminate the visitors' second innings rupture in the 100th test between the countries. Their 523 is the highest first innings from which any of the 130 tests at the ground have been lost.
New Zealand's second innings slump failed to detract from a mesmerising conclusion to a match which had captivated throughout. There was respect for both teams.
In the visitors' 17th test at the venue they could not capitalise on a 134-run lead, crumbling for 220 with 9.3 overs of the final day remaining. To provide context, it is New Zealand's highest score in the fourth innings at this venue, lasting 67.3 overs.
Trent Boult, left and Matt Henry leave the pitch at the end of the test. Photo / AP
The test had ebbed and flowed spell by spell, session by session, day by day with England taking the honours on days one, four and five and New Zealand getting the best of days two and three.
The definitive period was the 132-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook on the fourth day. That numbed New Zealand by extending the lead to 295 runs by stumps, a monumental chase under any fifth day circumstances. Cook's 162 opened a gateway to the win.
After dismissing the hosts for 478, when Boult became the 19th New Zealander to qualify for the dressing room honours board with five for 85 from 34 overs, they crumbled to 21 for three by lunch.
New Zealand had already been asked to haul in what would be a ground record fourth innings chase of 345. They had 77 overs to work with, at a run rate of 4.48. Given the first three innings of the match hummed at 3.85 runs per over, there was no reason to suspect batting conditions had deteriorated to the extent it looked.
A 107-run sixth-wicket partnership between Corey Anderson (67) and B-J Watling (59) resurrected the cause, enabling New Zealand to survive the middle session and offering hope for a draw.
England's Ben Stokes, left, and James Anderson, right, celebrate taking the wicket of New Zealand's captain Brendon McCullum. Photo / AP
Their dismissals left New Zealand's bowlers 23.1 overs to survive.
"England were too good for us in the crucial stages," New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said. "It was a fantastic test to be a part of, to play five days in front of full houses at Lord's and for it come down to the final 10 overs.
"England were able to withstand the pressure and forge partnerships. If anything, having three of our guys in the top six facing four balls between us makes chasing any total difficult."
"It's been a rocky road for us the last two weeks but I've never heard Lords' like that," Cook said, referring to the support. "Mentally the match was on a knife edge the whole time. When we were 134 behind, someone needed a big score."
BJ Watling leaves the pitch after being caught by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler off the bowling of England's Mark Wood. Photo / AP
He also paid tribute to Stokes, particularly for his first innings contribution.
"I'd love to score as quickly as Ben, but the bottom line is I can't. He'll get plaudits for the century but his [first innings] 92 was unbelievable batting when the ball was moving around corners at 30 for four."
On the final day, England's adrenaline surged with two wickets before New Zealand scored. The visitors' anxiety pierced a skin of previous confidence from the past 18 months. Within 21 minutes five batsmen had come through the white pickets in a conveyor belt of contagion. One could only imagine boxes, pads and gloves flying around the dressing room like electrons in the Hadron Collider.
The innings lapsed when Martin Guptill and Tom Latham were dismissed within the first seven balls. James Anderson and Stuart Broad fed off the visitors' trepidation and the crowd's will, keeping the ball in an off stump channel which paralysed batting instincts.
McCullum's reputation left pundits assuming New Zealand would go for the target. However, once Broad had Ross Taylor plumb for eight, the question turned to survival.
This team, as witnessed by two world record sixth-wicket partnerships in the past 15 months, is capable, but today's intensity was beyond their grasp.
First Kane Williamson (27) and Watling compiled 49 for the fourth wicket before Williamson edged to Joe Root at gully off Stokes. McCullum followed, playing-on first ball.
Soon Anderson was in his element. An umbrella field gave him scope in front of square to get his eye in. His luckiest moments came trying to slog sweep Moeen Ali twice towards Baker St but the ball spun beyond his arc. He gave Stokes some of his own medicine, depositing a short ball into the Mound Stand.
If Anderson was the entertainer, Watling was more the batting accountant, checking they could balance the books with their contrasting approaches, and all on an inflamed right knee. The way he played Broad's steepling bounce in the two overs before the interval was testament to his courage.
