The ICC has handed one demerit point to the Lord’s venue and deemed the pitch as unsatisfactory after the poor conditions in the first game between England and New Zealand. The pitch was a very difficult one to bat on with wickets falling quite quickly and the bowlers had much of the upper hand throughout the game. More than 15 wickets fell on the first day of play and the batters were having a nightmare facing the solid pace bowlers from both sides. A total of 40 wickets had fallen in the entire course of the game and the only probable reason why the match wasn’t concluded on Day 3 was due to the interruption of rain.

On the very first day of the game, the experts had suggested that the seamers will have plenty to work on from the pitch. As New Zealand had won the toss and elected to bowl first, the Kiwis pace attack tore apart the batting unit of the hosts. Kyle Jamieson picked up a terrific 5-wicket haul and only three players from the entire batting unit had crossed the 10-run mark. Even the best of batters were finding it difficult to play and an action from ICC was always on the cards.

England overcome early collapse to seal victory against New Zealand

The pitch conditions at the venue had nothing to offer for the batters as they weren’t able to read the deliveries despite being settled in the crease. Only two batters reached the half-century mark in the four innings of play and that was good enough to suggest how the pitch played with some excellent batters playing the game. England will be looking to curate some balanced pitches in the coming games offering balanced advantages to both the batting and bowling units of both the sides.

The hosts dominated the entire innings despite their poor performance in the first innings of play as they were bowled out for 140 which included a fighting half-century from Harry Brook. The fightback in the second innings was led by Ollie Robinson as he picked up a fine 5-wicket haul to bowl out the New Zealand side for just 113. England put on a much better show of batting in the 3rd inning of play as they scored 226 on board and set a strong target for the Kiwis to chase. However, New Zealand weren’t able to chase the total down as they were bowled out for 138, credit to the brilliant 5-wicket haul from Ollie Robinson.

England have taken the lead in the series against New Zealand and they will be hoping to secure the series with the next match. On the other hand, the Kiwis will be in desperate need for a win in the second test match to keep their hopes alive in the test series against England.