England's Bazball reset begins with 115-run win over New Zealand early on Day 4 at Lord's

England wrapped up a 115-run victory over New Zealand before lunch on Day 4 of the first cricket test at Lord’s on Sunday, marking a positive start to its “Bazball” reset after the Ashes humiliation Down Under.

Resuming on 55-5 and requiring 254 for an unlikely win, New Zealand lost its remaining five wickets inside the first two hours of play and was dismissed for 138.

England pacer Gus Atkinson finished with team-best figures of 5-30 on a challenging, bowler-friendly surface at the home of cricket that saw 24 batters out bowled or lbw.

It was fitting that the match ended with the middle stump flattened after Atkinson clean-bowled Kiwi tail-ender Matt Henry. That left Glenn Phillips stranded at the other end on 44 not out, making him New Zealand's top scorer of a disappointing test for the tourists.

“You've got to play what's in front of you, you've got to identify the conditions as a team and understand what you think is the best way for you to go out there and win,” England captain Ben Stokes said of the conditions in a match that lasted just 166 overs.

“And we did that better than New Zealand this week.”

This first test series of the summer has been regarded as a fresh start for England and its under-pressure leadership after a 4-1 loss to Australia during an Ashes tour featuring reports of excessive drinking and when England was accused of slack preparation and a wrong tactical approach.

The headline selections early in this second iteration of “Bazball” under coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes were opener Emilio Gay and seam bowler Ollie Robinson — and both delivered.

With a second-innings 57, Gay had the highest individual score from either team on his test debut.

Robinson, recalled for the first time since 2024 when he was dropped over misgivings about his fitness and attitude, took seven wickets in total (5-39 and 2-38) — three of them coming in his magical first over — and was named man of the match.

“He said before he bowled in that first innings that he was more nervous than he was on his debut,” McCullum said of Robinson. “His natural length was going to be successful on this surface ... he needed relentlessness and accuracy and being able to get the ball to seam. With his height and skills, he was always going to be a handful.”

What was already a tough position for New Zealand got even harder when Tom Blundell was trapped lbw by Josh Tongue in the seventh over of the day.

That left the tourists on 58-6 but a 53-run partnership between opener Devon Conway and Phillips gave them a fighting chance of a remarkable comeback.

Then Conway, surprised by the bounce of a delivery from Stokes, sent a leading edge to gully for the first of four dismissals in seven overs, ensuring New Zealand didn't even make it to lunch.

Given the state of the pitch, perhaps little should be gleaned from the second shortest completed test of the record 150 to take place at Lord’s. That was New Zealand captain Tom Latham's thought process, anyway.

“It's a surface that we weren’t expecting,” Latham said. “I don't think anybody expected a surface like that.”

“I think it's important we don't delve too much into this game. We understand we'll go to The Oval and conditions will be a lot better than they have been here.”

The second test of the three-match series is across London at The Oval, starting June 17.

Atkinson continued his love affair with the home of cricket, where he made his test debut two years ago and took 12 wickets in a win over West Indies to get on the Lord's storied honors boards.

Later that summer, he struck his maiden test century — against Sri Lanka — at Lord's, as well as getting another five-fer.

He was at it again Sunday, removing New Zealand's final three batters — Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry — to get back on the honors board located inside the dressing rooms at the famous ground.

It was his fifth five-wicket haul in tests — and four of them have been at Lord’s.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Gus Atkinson holds the ball as he leaves the field after bowling out New Zealand's Matt Henry to win the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Gus Atkinson, left, celebrates with captain Ben Stokes after bowling out New Zealand's Matt Henry to win the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Nathan Smith reacts as he walks off the field after losing his wicket during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's captain Ben Stokes celebrates the dismissal of New Zealand's Devon Conway during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Nathan Smith reacts as he walks off the field after losing his wicket during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's captain Ben Stokes, right, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of New Zealand's Devon Conway during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips plays a shot during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey urged a judge on Monday to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against President Donald Trump but protected political speech.

Comey's lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47" constituted a “true threat" against the Republican president, who fired Comey in 2017 and has publicly called for his prosecution. The slogan — which has long meant to "get rid of" or “eject" — has been featured on thousands of items sold online and regularly displayed at protests, defense lawyers wrote in court papers.

"But the government now singles out Mr. Comey to prosecute one of the President’s most prominent critics for publishing another person’s statement of political opposition," his attorney's wrote. “That attempt to suppress core political speech contravenes both the statutes at issue and the First Amendment.”

The seashells case against Comey was the second in months targeting the ex-FBI director, a long-running Trump foe whom the president over the years has called a “corrupt piece of garbage” and other pejorative names.

An earlier case in Virginia accusing Comey of lying to Congress was dismissed last November after a judge concluded that the prosecutor who charged him and another Trump adversary, New York Attorney General Letitia James, was illegally appointed to the job.

More broadly, the case is part of a retribution campaign by the Trump administration Justice Department, which has initiated investigations across the country into individuals the president does not like. Comey has long drawn Trump's ire for his role overseeing the early months of an investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of that year’s election.

The two-count indictment charges Comey with “knowingly and willfully” making a threat to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” Trump and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. It does not provide evidence that Comey knowingly threatened Trump, especially since Comey has said the opposite, but suggested a “reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret” the message as a threat.

Comey was interviewed by the Secret Service last year over the post after Trump administration officials asserted that he was advocating the assassination of Trump, the 47th president. Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

“Even if ‘86 47’ could implausibly be read to suggest violence, a reasonable observer would still understand Mr. Comey’s post as mere political hyperbole, not a true threat,” Comey's lawyers wrote. “The Supreme Court has rejected threats prosecutions based on speech far more directly threatening than Mr. Comey’s seashells post here.”

The Justice Department has not elaborated on any evidence of intent the government has. But acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier this year that prosecutors in every case prove intent with “witnesses, with documents, with the defendant himself to the extent it’s appropriate.”

“And that’s how we’ll prove intent in this case,” Blanche said in April, shortly after he was elevated to lead the department after Pam Bondi's firing.

Trump, in a Fox News Channel interview last year, accused Comey of knowing “exactly what that meant.”

“A child knows what that meant,” Trump said. “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.”

FILE - Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)