Watch: Acrobatic Bairstow pulls off back-to-back stunners to send back New Zealand openers

The first of three Tests between England and New Zealand at Lord’s saw an action-packed first 30 minutes of play, with veteran James Anderson making the ball talk to rattle the top-order.

Anderson, back to the England setup and playing his first Test since England’s 2021-22 Ashes defeat Down Under, removed both Blackcaps openers Will Young and Tom Latham within the first three overs of his spell to reduce the visitors to 2/2 after they opted to bat.

The dismissals wouldn’t have been possible without Jonny Bairstow’s brilliance in the slips, whose stunning reflexes saw him pluck two outstanding catches to help Anderson bag his 641st and 642nd Test wickets respectively.

Will Young was the first to go, poking at a fuller one well outside off with hard hands. The outside edge flew low towards the packed slip region, and Bairstow, stationed at the third, dived low across to his left to grab a one-handed take inches off the ground.

In his next over, Anderson induced another edge from left-hander Tom Latham while operating from round the wicket. The ball flew chest-high on this occasion, and Bairstow, appeared to be rushed by the ball and missed it on first attempt, but recovered instantly to dive forward and cling onto the rebound with an outstretched right-hand.

It was Bairstow’s 200th catch in whites, making him the fourth England cricketer to the mark in Tests after Alec Stewat, Alan Knott and Matt Prior. 176 of those takes have come as a designated wicketkeeper.

Bairstow would soon make it 201, after Stuart Broad had Devon Conway nick a full-length ball from round the wicket through to the slips, with the fielder grabbing it with both hands on this occasion inches off the ground.

Watch the three catches here:

Oh Jonny Bairstow! 😱

Match Centre: https://t.co/kwXrUr13uJ

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvNZ 🇳🇿 |@jbairstow21 pic.twitter.com/Rq89Opc31D

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 2, 2022

Matthew Potts strikes in his first over on debut after destroying NZ in the warm up game.

Kane Williamson nicks one to the keeper…#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/cAkY5OF1LR

— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) June 2, 2022

Debutant Matthew Potts then dismissed New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson off his fifth ball to get his maiden Test wicket, sinking the visitors further.

New Zealand were 12/4 at the time of writing, with Tom Blundell and Daryll Mitchell at the crease. This is also Ben Stokes’ first game as the England Test captain.