Atkinson picks five as England wrap up victory on up-and-down Lord's pitch

Led by Gus Atkinson's five-fer, England eventually secured a comfortable 115-run win in the Lord's Test, on Sunday. Even as the target was a competitive 254, two days ago the English pacers had pegged back the visitors enough in the fourth innings to ensure there was nothing surprising about the eventual result - even if it came delayed courtesy multiple rain breaks.

Resuming the fourth and final day on 55 for 5, hopes were on Devon Conway - who went to stumps unbeaten on two previous evenings - to push New Zealand's fight. But even before he could stamp his presence in the middle, Josh Tongue had Tom Blundell trapped legbefore on 4, and New Zealand reduced to 58 for 6.

And then, the visitors put in a fight, with Glenn Phillips crunching Ollie Robinson for a couple of boundaries. Conway was a bit tentative. He got one edge to fly past the slips, and then a thick edge burst through Harry Brook's hands. Phillips broke loose early by crunching a couple of more boundaries, and the counter attack did allow New Zealand's score to race close to the 100-run mark.

For a while, Tongue and Robinson troubled both the batters. But it was Ben Stokes who eventually ended the 53-run stand to enter New Zealand's lower order. An angled-in delivery to Conway took the outside edge, and Jacob Bethell took a fine catch at gully.

That dismissal paved way for a quick collapse. Atkinson dismissed Nathan Smith and Kyle Jamieson in successive overs to reduce New Zealand to 124 for 9. With the result all but obvious went on a counterattack against Tongue, crunching a couple of boundaries and getting a short-pitched delivery to fly for a six. But that entertainment too lasted only for a brief while as Atkinson cleaned up Matt Henry for a duck with a ball that stayed low.

Even as the game stretched into the fourth day, it ended up becoming the second shortest match at the venue (in terms of balls). The two teams will now meet at The Oval on June 17, with the visitors aiming to level the series, and the hosts looking to seal it.

Brief Scores: England 140 & 226 (Emilio Gay 57, Jamie Smith 39; Nathan Smith 6-70, William O'Rourke 2-45) beat New Zealand 113 (Kyle Jamieson 38*; Ollie Robinson 5-39, Josh Tongue 3-40) & 138 (Glenn Philips 44*, Devon Conway 41; Gus Atkinson 5-30) by 115 runs.