After England’s winter of discontent, under gloomy London skies, this was about as glorious a start to the Test match summer as Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes could have dreamt up. Their recall of Ollie Robinson paid off spectacularly. The decision to blood Emilio Gay brought a decisive half-century on a pitch where 50 runs were worth 100. Ultimately, an Ashes defeat can only be absolved by an Ashes victory. But this 115-run win over a capable New Zealand side went some way to soothing those sores.
The deed was done shortly before lunch on day four. Josh Tongue has tended to be their man for mopping up the tail, but Gus Atkinson took charge here, taking three wickets in four overs to complete his five-wicket haul. His name will be etched on the honours board for the fourth time at Lord’s, where his 26 wickets have come at a miserly average of 9.5 runs. Essentially, “Gus Atkinson at Lord’s” is the best bowler in the world right now.
