Matthew Potts continued his stirring England debut in the first Test at Lord’s, dismissing New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for the second time in as many days as ball continued to dominate bat.
After 17 wickets fell on day one of the first LV= Insurance Test, the game continued to hurtle towards a swift conclusion, with another six tumbling in Friday’s first session.
England went from 116 for seven overnight to 141 all out, a slender lead of just nine, before leaving the tourists 38 for three at lunch.
With such a slim advantage there was little margin for error when England took to the field, and James Anderson once again set a superb tone. He found Will Young’s outside edge with the first ball of his second over, with Ben Foakes gathering a low catch to complete a forgettable outing for the opener.
Williamson has been light on runs in recent times, across all formats, but was looking to make an impression on a low-scoring match. He saw one nick off Anderson die in front of second slip and was navigating his way towards the break when Potts entered the fray from the Nursery End.
The 23-year-old was outstanding in the first innings, returning figures of four for 13 including the Kiwi skipper as his maiden international scalp. Once again he hit the jackpot early in his spell, tucking the right-hander up around off stump and persuading the ball to hold its line as he punched off the back foot.
The shot skimmed through to Jonny Bairstow at waist height and Potts’ charmed start in England whites continued. Potts has barely put a foot wrong so far and got further rewards when he followed up with the scalp of Tom Latham.
This time he located the perfect channel from round the wicket and took the slimmest of edges on the way through to Foakes. Contact was so minimal that Latham called for DRS, but a little spike on UltraEdge was enough to seal his fate.
England had earlier put on 25 for their final three wickets to edge ahead in the game, Tim Southee proving far too good for Broad and Foakes before Trent Boult wrapped things up by taking out Matt Parkinson.
The Lancashire leg-spinner, drafted in for a debut as a replacement for concussion victim Jack Leach, made eight runs to get his side up past New Zealand’s mark of 132 but his main role in the game is still to come.
