June 9 (Reuters) - Lord’s has been handed an “unsatisfactory” pitch rating for the first test between England and New Zealand after the hosts sealed a 115-run win inside four days of a rain-hit, bowler-dominated match.
England went 1-0 up in the three-match series after wrapping up the low-scoring contest on the fourth day, with the surface offering variable bounce and making batting difficult.
The venue, often called the "Home of Cricket", received one demerit point that will remain on its record for five years. Any venue accumulating six points over that period faces a one-year ban from hosting international matches.
“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions,” match referee Andy Pycroft Crowe said in a statement from the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
“The bounce was variable throughout as 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 on the second. There was simply an over-balance in favour of ball against bat caused by the pitch.”
England captain Ben Stokes had earlier criticised the surface, saying it was not conducive to test cricket.
Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns the ground, attributed the pitch behaviour to weather conditions and apologised after what became the second-shortest completed test at Lord’s.
The second test begins at The Oval on June 17.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
