Kane Williamson:
“The game ebbed and flowed the whole time. We saw how difficult it was when the ball was hard and then how much it changed. Today we came here with high hopes and thought there might be some assistance from the overheads but it wasn’t to be. It’s about moving on quickly and taking the learnings. There’s always plenty to take forward. [Ball change?] It was pretty difficult.
We saw it changed a few times and thought if we could inch one out, we might be right in it. But it was a fantastic game of cricket that took incredible innings from an amazing player to get them across the line – full credit to England. [Root?] Truly an unbelievable achievement, recognising the quality of the player and also his longevity. [2nd Test next week] Everybody wants to be contributing more. We saw the assistance with the harder ball. Definitely a lot of learnings. We’ll reflect on this and look forward to the next one.”
ICC Rankings Test, ODI & T20
Ben Stokes:
“Amazing. A great Test match. It always seems to be, England vs New Zealand – especially at Lord’s. Regardless of being captain, the first Test of the summer always has a special buzz about it. It was a special week with all the build-up and to come away with the win makes it even better. [Baz] It’s been pretty good. The language he uses in the press is similar to what he uses up in the changing room. We’re happy leaving here with a win but one thing that everyone needs to take into account is that it’s a change of mindset for everyone and it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.
[Small margins?]
Everyone had a laugh at that incident yesterday. The game ebbed and flowed. It was the first innings vs second innings and the third innings vs fourth innings, no one had the upper hand at any stage. [Root?] Scoring a hundred and 10,000 runs – what a player, what a man. [Potts?] He absolutely loved it. I got the opportunity to play three games, watching him progress in a Durham shirt. You saw the impact he had every time he got the ball in his hand. I tried to use him when I felt like I needed a wicket. He’s got an amazing attitude. Young lad, fit lad. Very exciting to see. Amazing start, hopefully, it can continue. [Confidence?] It was massively important but it’s going to be a long ride. It’s not going to happen overnight, we’ll have tough times, no doubt. But it’s about how we respond. The way that Leesy came out and played yesterday, it was only 20 but it was the best he’d looked in an England shirt.”
Joe Root is the player of the match:
“It feels fantastic, more than anything for us to have won this Test match after such a long time. It’s been so enjoyable. Hopefully, we can use this as a way to step forward. [First-innings reception] We always get fantastic support and are always very grateful for that. It was nice to see them get their money back today! [Retreat to the ranks] It’s easy, actually. The number of times Ben has won us Tests under my leadership, it’s a great chance for me to give back to him. I love batting. I want to score as many runs as I can and win us as many Test matches as I can. As long as I’ve got the energy and the drive to do it, I’ll do it. I couldn’t wish for a better person to be leading this team.”
Eng vs NZ Highlights today Sunday, 5-6-2022 – 1st Test, New Zealand tour of England from Lord’s, London.
Toss: New Zealand, elected to bat first.
England team: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.
New Zealand team: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Trent Boult.
Match Timings: 10:00 GMT | 11:00 Local
Umpires – Michael Goug, Rod Tucker
TV Umpires – Paul Reiffel
Match Referee – Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Mike Burns
Match number – Test no. 2464
