LONDON: Kyle Jamieson did the bulk of the damage as England were dismissed for 140 on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on Thursday.

Jamieson led the way with 5-62 in 14 overs — the sixth five-wicket haul of the towering 31-year-old fast bowler’s 20-Test career.

Harry Brook, with 56, was the lone England batsman to offer meaningful resistance and he was dropped twice during an otherwise impressive New Zealand fielding display.

Only five England batsmen made it into double figures, with opener Ben Duckett’s 19 the next highest score in an innings wrapped up inside 40 overs.

After New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss, his pacemen made England suffer, even though Matt Henry, who was passed fit following a hamstring strain, only managed four overs before leaving the field.

Debutant Emilio Gay was out for eight, while Joe Root and Jamie Smith both scored just one run in England’s first Test since their woeful 4-1 Ashes series loss in Australia concluded in January.

England were widely criticised for reckless batting during the Ashes but on Thursday most of their batsmen succumbed to excellent bowling by New Zealand’s quicks.

Gay, playing in place of dropped opener Zak Crawley, emulated England great David Gower by hitting his first ball in Test cricket for four.

But Gay was first to go with the score on 16 when he edged Jamieson to Daryl Mitchell in the slips.

Nathan Smith had Duckett lbw before Jacob Bethell was dismissed in similar fashion by Will O’Rourke.

O’Rourke (3-38) next captured the key wicket of Root before Smith was clean bowled playing no shot to a Jamieson ball that cut back and knocked out his off stump.

Brook, who was dropped early in his innings by Devon Conway, struck a couple of resounding pulls for four before he was joined in the middle by Ben Stokes, on the England captain’s 35th birthday.

But Stokes fell for 12 when an edge off Jamieson was superbly caught low and one-handed by Kane Williamson, diving in front of first slip.

Brook had another reprieve, on 45, when he pulled Jamieson to deep midwicket only for Rachin Ravindra to somehow drop a straightforward catch.

But Jamieson struck again as Gus Atkinson was out lbw for four.

An edged boundary took Brook to a 64-ball fifty, including nine fours, but he holed out to Jamieson at long leg off Smith soon afterwards.

England had slumped to 118-8 in the bowler-friendly conditions.

Two balls after the tea break, Jamieson had Ollie Robinson caught behind.

Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir briefly kept New Zealand at bay with a last-wicket stand of 22 before Smith ended the innings by having Bashir caught in the slips.

The Test at Lord’s, the 150th at the London ground, is the first of a three-game series.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND (1st Innings):
B. Duckett lbw Smith 19
E. Gay c Mitchell b Jamieson 8
J. Bethell lbw O’Rourke 6
J. Root c Blundell b O’Rourke 1
H. Brook c Jamieson b Smith 56
J. Smith b Jamieson 1
B. Stokes c Williamson b Jamieson 12
G. Atkinson lbw Jamieson 4
O. Robinson c Blundell b Jamieson 1
J. Tongue not out 10
S. Bashir c Williamson b Smith 14

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-1, NB-1) 8
TOTAL (all out, 39.4 overs) 140
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Gay), 2-31 (Duckett), 3-33 (Bethell), 4-34 (Root), 5-55 (Smith), 6-94 (Stokes), 7-108 (Atkinson), 8-113 (Brook), 9-118 (Robinson)
BOWLING: Henry 4-1-8-0; Jamieson 14-0-62-5; Smith 10.4-1-38-3 (1nb); O’Rourke 11-3-25-2
NEW ZEALAND: T. Latham, D. Conway, K. Williamson, R. Ravindra, D. Mitchell, T. Blundell, G. Phillips, N. Smith, K. Jamieson, M. Henry, W. O’Rourke

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2026