LONDON
\nEngland debutant Matthew Potts and recalled great James Anderson took four wickets apiece as New Zealand were dismissed for just 132 on the opening day of the first Test here at Lord\u2019s on Thursday.
\nPotts finished with superb figures of four for 13 in 9.2 overs and Anderson, who had earlier reduced the World Test champions to two for two, four for 66 in 16 in what was England\u2019s first match under their new leadership duo of captain Ben Stokes and red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand skipper.
\nNew Zealand were in dire straits at 45 for seven after captain Kane Williamson\u2019s decision to bat first.
\nBut all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme\u2019s unbeaten 42 off 50 balls bolstered the total, along with useful contributions from pacemen Tim Southee (26) and Trent Boult (14).
\nStokes, who dismissed last man Boult, might not have bowled at all but for Durham team-mate Potts going off with cramp in his left leg.
\nEngland openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley then survived a potentially tricky six-over spell from Southee and Boult, who only arrived in England on Monday after playing in the Indian Premier League final, to take the hosts to 19 without loss at tea.
\nThe only major downside for England so far Thursday was that Jack Leach had to leave the field barely half an hour into the day\u2019s play after the spinner landed on his head and neck when stopping a boundary.
\nLeach was later ruled out of the match due to symptoms of concussion, with England summoning uncapped Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson from Manchester as a concussion substitute.
\nNew Zealand often looked what they were \u2014 a team who had played just two warm-up matches in England ahead of this three-match series — as all of their top four, including star batsman Williamson fell in single figures.
\nAnderson and Stuart Broad, England\u2019s two most successful Test bowlers of all time, with 1,177 wickets between them prior to this match, had both been controversially left out of a 1-0 series loss in the Caribbean earlier this year.
\nBut the 39-year-old Anderson was soon back in a familiar groove as he removed openers Will Young and Tom Latham with the aid of two slip catches, the first a brilliant diving one-handed effort, by Jonny Bairstow.
\nAll-rounder Stokes stayed true to his attacking instincts by deploying five slips and a gully early on.
\nNew Zealand\u2019s Devon Conway, who made a double century at Lord\u2019s in his Test debut last year, fell for just three on Thursday when caught by Bairstow off Broad.
\nPotts, on as first change, then struck with just his fifth ball when Williamson, whose elbow injury meant he had missed New Zealand\u2019s previous five Tests, edged low to wicket-keeper Ben Foakes.
\nEngland, with a mere one win in their last 17 Tests, had now reduced New Zealand to a scarcely credible 12 for four.
\nNew Zealand did surpass their 26 all out \u2014 the lowest completed Test innings of all time \u2014 against England at Auckland in 1955 before Potts reduced them to 36 for six.
\nPlay was briefly paused after the 23rd over as the players lined up on the outfield and a large crowd stood for a minute\u2019s applause in the honour of Shane Warne, who wore the number 23 shirt, following the outstanding Australia leg-spinner\u2019s death aged 52 from a suspected heart attack in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON England debutant Matthew Potts and recalled great James Anderson took four wickets apiece as New Zealand were dismissed for just 132 on the opening day of the first Test here at Lord\u2019s on Thursday. Potts finished with superb figures of four for 13 in 9.2 overs and Anderson, who had earlier reduced the World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-264438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n