LONDON (Reuters) – New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bat in the first test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.
England handed a debut to Durham fast bowler Matthew Potts while the visitors brought back spinner Ajaz Patel, who picked up all 10 wickets in an innings against India in Mumbai in December.
“It looks like a pretty good surface, sun’s out, so we’re going to look to make use of it first up,” said Williamson.
Ben Stokes, in his first match as England’s test skipper, said he would have opted to bat as well.
“Everyone is really excited to get going. I don’t think it’s too different, I just have to make a few more decisions out in the middle,” said the all-rounder.
The three-match series will be England’s first under coach Brendon McCullum, who took over in the longest format after Chris Silverwood resigned following their 4-0 Ashes drubbing.
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow, Ben Stokes (captain), Ben Foakes, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (captain), Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
