The China Mail - Atkinson strikes as England thrash New Zealand in first Test

New Zealand, set 254 to win, were dismissed for 138 before lunch on the fourth day in the 150th Test staged at Lord's -- the most at any ground.

Surrey paceman Atkinson took 5-30 -- his fourth five-wicket innings haul in three Tests at Lord's -- as England went 1-0 up in a three-match series.

But fellow seamer Ollie Robinson was named player-of-the-match after marking his first Test in over two years with seven wickets in the match -- including a Test-best haul of 5-39, featuring a rare triple-wicket maiden, in New Zealand's meagre first-innings 113.

"There was a time where I never thought I'd be back on a pitch with England so to get that win for the team is such a special feeling," said Robinson at the presentation ceremony.

While Robinson's skill has rarely been questioned -- he now has 83 wickets in 21 Tests at a an average of just 21.91 apiece -- doubts over the 32-year-old Sussex captain's fitness and attitude led to a lengthy exile from England duty.

"I know that this is just the start and there's a lot more hard work to be done, but I want to make sure it's a long career and there won't be any let-up this time," added Robinson.

This was England's first Test since a 4-1 series loss in Australia completed in January where they were critcised for an overly-attacking style that meant they failed to consolidate strong positions, with many questioning whether Brendon McCullum should remain as coach.

- 'Bravery can be misunderstood' -

But McCullum, a former New Zealand captain, told the BBC on Sunday: "Our execution with the ball was outstanding, our plans were great. With the bat, I thought we were brave at times and calculated at other times.

"Bravery can be misunderstood, it's not always running down wicket and banging it into the stands, bravery is about being able to manipulate your stance at the crease, manufacture ones. I thought our boys did a good job with that."

England's win also owed much to debutant opener Emilo Gay's 57 in their second-innings 226, with skipper Ben Stokes saying: "I said to him that these conditions are at the top of the tough end in Test cricket, and the pressure that he was under in the third innings in such a low-scoring game.

"It was a monumental innings to get us to a lead that we were comfortable with."

On Sunday, Devon Conway (41) and Glenn Phillips (44 not out) kept England at bay with a seventh-wicket partnership of 53 -- New Zealand's highest of a low-scoring match.

England still only needed 19 overs to take the five wickets they required for victory on a pitch of variable bounce.

"It's a surface that we weren't expecting," said New Zealand captain Tom Latham. "There were two highly talented bowling attacks that exploited those conditions."

New Zealand, however, did not help themselves with several dropped catches.

"We had those opportunities from a fielding perspective and we weren't able to capitalise," said Latham. "There are small moments that you have to take and we didn't take them."

New Zealand's overnight 55-5 became 58-6 when Tom Blundell was lbw to fast bowler Josh Tongue.

New batsman Phillips struck two fours off Robinson.

And when Stokes brought himself on, Phillips clipped his fifth ball through midwicket for another boundary to bring up New Zealand's hundred.

Stokes, however, had Conway edging a good-length ball, with Jacob Bethell holding a fine low catch in the gully to end the left-handed opener's gritty innings.

Phillips defiantly pulled Tongue for six, but could only watch as Atkinson ended the match by bowling last man Matt Henry for a duck to finish with 5-30 in 11.3 overs.

Only three bowlers have more five-wicket Test hauls at Lord's than Atkinson -- England greats Ian Botham, Fred Trueman and James Anderson.

The series now moves across London to the Oval, where the second Test starts on June 17.

C.Fong--ThChM