New Zealand

New Zealand media muted in critique of first Test loss

Wellington: New Zealand's media were muted in their reaction to their side being bundled out for just 68 runs to give England a 170-run victory in the first Test at Lord's on Sunday, instead turning their focus towards the second match in Leeds. Their second innings score, sparked by Stuart Broad's career-best figures of seven for 44, was New Zealand's ninth-lowest in their 83-year Test history.

Unlike the furore that enveloped the team when they were bundled out for 45 by South Africa in January, however, the outcry on Monday was more restrained. No doubt the fact Brendon McCullum's team had actually competed, if not held a slight advantage for the first three innings before "one hour of madness" on Sunday when Broad ran through the visitors lineup, helped lessen the criticism.

"In a flash, it was gone," Fairfax Media's senior cricket writer Mark Geenty wrote. "New Zealand boldly dared to dream of a rare Test win at Lord's but in the space of one horror hour it became a nightmare. Memories of the Cape Town collapse for 45 in January had almost faded. This pavilion procession revived them as New Zealand slumped to 29-6 at lunch, with Broad taking five of the first six. The question is now, what kind of psychological damage this causes to New Zealand heading into Friday's second and final Test at Leeds."

The New Zealand Herald's Andrew Alderson, however, was slightly more critical....more   

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