It's all square in the battle for cricket supremacy as England serve up a stunning 115-run thrashing of New Zealand in the opening Rothesay Test! The drama unfolded on the fourth morning, with the home team emerging victorious despite some dodgy surface conditions.
The English batsmen put on a masterclass display, racking up an impressive 385 runs in their first innings – a performance that left the Kiwis struggling to keep pace. But New Zealand fought hard, eventually being bowled out for 270 after a nail-biting battle on the deteriorating pitch.
Ben Stokes, England's skipper, raised some eyebrows with his pre-match concerns over the state of the pitch – and it wasn't hard to see why. 'Not ideal' was how he summed it up, as the surface proved to be more suited to a dodgy tennis court than a cricket ground!
But despite the tricky conditions, Stokes couldn't hide his pride in his team's display: 'We're over the moon with this win! The lads have worked their socks off to get us here and it's fantastic to see them rewarded.'
The victory sets England up for a promising series and they'll be looking to carry on this momentum in the remaining two matches. With the second Test just around the corner, the stakes are high – will they be able to keep the Kiwis at bay?
The Rothesay Test was the first of three showdowns between England and New Zealand, with the next match scheduled for 17 June and the final showdown on 24 June.