Black Caps suffer batting collapse against England in first test

Friday, 5 June 2026

First test, Lord’s: England 140 all out in 39.4 overs (Harry Brook 56; Kyle Jamieson 5-62, Nathan Smith 3-38) vs New Zealand 61-6 (Glenn Phillips 31 not out; Ollie Robinson 4-10). Click here for full scoreboard.

An initial good day’s work almost wiped out in alarming fashion.

Recalled seamer Ollie Robinson stole the spotlight off returning New Zealand paceman Kyle Jamieson to push the Black Caps once more onto the back foot in a test against England.

Robinson, in his first test since February 2024, took three wickets in four balls in his first over of the first test at Lord’s overnight (NZ time) to reduce the visitors to 3-2.

It didn’t get much better for the Black Caps as three further wickets fell before stumps, but an unbeaten 31 from Glenn Phillips at No.7 did boost them to 61-6 after a a truncated day’s play in London, and with major concerns also over the leader of their quick-bowling unit.

Matt Henry, who missed the one-off test versus Ireland last week with a ‘low-grade’ hamstring injury, bowled just four overs after captain Tom Latham won the toss and opted to bowl before leaving the field with worrying lower back spasms.

He’d bowled just four overs as the Lord’s pitch looked benign, with very little carry and bounce for him and new-ball partner Jamieson. Former England captain and now broadcaster and writer Mike Atherton was already suggesting the wicket block may need to be dug up and replace in the near future.

But after a lengthy rain break, the ball seamed sharply under cloud cover, never allowing any batter from either side to feel comfortable at the crease.

Henry’s absence in England’s first innings wasn’t problematic, as Jamieson grabbed a five-wicket bag and Nathan Smith added three wickets as the home side were dismissed for just 140 in 39.4 overs.

But Robinson, whose test career seemed over two years ago when continuing fitness issues saw him discarded, proved almost unplayable with the new ball under lights on a rain-affected opening day of the three-test series.

The 32-year-old dismissed Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra with the third, fifth and sixth balls of his first over of NZ’s reply, as his mastery of movement off the seam mystified the visitors.

Earlier, Jamieson captured 5-62 from 14 overs in his return to test cricket after his second back stress fracture.

England’s tally could have been far less had Harry Brook not been dropped twice - the first time on eight - before making 56 from 71 balls.

That came following a sizeable break for rain in the first session, as England slumped from 31-1 to 34-4 in the space of 14 balls, with key batter Joe Root caught behind by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell off Will O’Rourke’s bowling for one.

Tailenders Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir put on 22 for the last wicket - the second-highest stand of the innings - which didn’t appear a great deal at the time - until Robinson’s opening over and the continuing damage after.

Match situation and what to expect on day two

We’d been promised a steadier approach from the hosts after coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes had been chastened by having the team’s collective pants pulled down in Australia last summer.

Now, after just 59 overs on the opening day of the test series, we’re almost halfway through - but England’s batting isn’t solely the reason.

The red Dukes ball was the dominant figure - first Kyle Jamieson became the most recent New Zealand player to get his name on the famed Lord’s honours board, with a five-wicket bag.

Then Ollie Robinson went bang, play and miss, bang, bang and NZ were in deep doo-doo.

Glenn Phillips looms as the key figure when NZ resume their innings on Friday night (NZ time). The allrounder looked the most comfortable of the day one batters in getting to 31 from 34 balls, with six fours, and an hour of a further counter-attack could reduce his team’s deficit, or even see them gain a first-innings lead, with Nathan Smith (six not out), Jamieson and Henry - if available - all capable of good support.

The rain looks set to stay away on day two, but there could be ample cloud cover at times that could ensure batting remains difficult. If so, the hosts could resort to a more ‘Bazball’ batting approach in their second dig.

Stat of the day

Sixteen wickets on day one at Lord’s between England and New Zealand should be a rarity.

Yet that’s one less than when the two sides met at the same London venue on the opening day of the 2022 three-test series.

On that June day, it was the visitors who were rolled batting first - New Zealand dismissed for 132 in just 40 overs, with James Anderson and Matthew Potts taking four wickets apiece.

After England openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees put on 59 for the first wicket, the hosts tumbled to 116-7 by stumps, with Jamieson taking two wickets - as did Tim Southee, who watched the day one carnage of the 2026 series-starter overnight (NZ time) from the balcony in his role as England fast bowling coach.

Robinson’s triple-wicket maiden was the third by an English pace bowler in recent times - Josh Tongue did so against India last year at Headingley, and Gus Atkinson against the Black Caps at the Basin Reserve in 2024.

What they said

“It was obviously helpful conditions for us nasty fasties,” Jamieson said after the hectic first day.

“We were fortunate to have those conditions and just try to, as a group, build pressure as much as we could, and just try and be relentless in that length. There was enough going on that we didn't have to try too much really, to be fair.”

However, England had even greater success with the ball and Jamieson acknowledged the rapid loss of wickets was a shock.

“I suppose it's probably hard to process it at this point in time.

“It was obviously a little bit of stop-start with the rain and the weather. We've got a bit of work to do in the morning with the bat and then I'm sure we'll have another crack at the ball as well.”

The 31-year-old, who was playing his first test since February 2024 due to a second back stress fracture, expressed his concern over Henry’s injury.

“It's obviously a shame for him to go down and hopefully we'll get him back at some point during this test match.”