England v New Zealand: Alastair Cook praises Broad & Anderson

Captain Alastair Cook praised Stuart Broad and James Anderson after they hurried England to a 170-run victory over New Zealand in the first Test.

The pace pair bowled unchanged in the second innings at Lord's, with Broad taking Test-best figures of 7-44 as the tourists were skittled for 68.

Cook said: "That was as good as any bowling I've seen in an opening spell.

"Jimmy and Broad have played a lot of cricket together and we are lucky to have their experience and skill."

Set 239 to win after bowling England out for 213 on the fourth morning, the Black Caps' hopes were shattered in the hour before lunch as Broad claimed five wickets in his first five overs.

Anderson chipped in by removing Dean Brownlie to leave the tourists reeling on an irreparable 29-6 at lunch.

Broad described the spell as his best in Test cricket but claimed Anderson's performance was more worthy.

"It's about rhythm as a bowler," he said. "I felt my stride pattern has been pretty good throughout the summer.

"I had confidence, knowing if I got the ball up there, there was enough in the wicket to help the bowlers out.

"I just hit my straps straightaway. It happens like that. Some days you get the nicks; some days you don't.

"As a partnership today, the pressure Jimmy and I built, we didn't really give them anything.

"I've come away with seven wickets but Jimmy was the leader of this attack. He got to 300 Test wickets and got five wickets in the first innings and he should be coming up to get this man-of-the-match award."

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who was dismissed by Broad in both innings, said: "The difference between the two teams came down to that one hour of madness before lunch.

"You've got to give credit where credit is due and Stuart Broad's spell of bowling was high-class.

"He swung the ball beautifully, he was able to get the odd ball to hold its line up the slope and his lengths were impeccable.

"He bowled at a reasonable pace as well and we weren't able to find out a way to get through it."

Although the Test was won with a day-and-a-half to spare, England's batting remains a concern after collapses in both innings.

Cook admitted: "We wanted more runs, but cricket's a strange game and sometimes results like that happen.

"We can improve in all areas of our game, but a 170-run win is a big win.

"At 159-2 (on day three) with a lead of nearly 190, we were thinking 'bat them out of the game', but Tim Southee (6-50 in the second innings and 10-108 in the match) bowled outstandingly well for New Zealand."

The Kiwis must regroup for Friday's second Test at Headingley, having ended the match with wicketkeeper BJ Watling nursing a knee injury and spinner Bruce Martin hampered by a calf problem.

"BJ is a bit stiff and sore, so we'll evaluate him over the next few days, and Bruce is touch and go for the next game," said McCullum.

"We've shown we have resilience to bounce back from tough circumstances but we took a step backwards today."

Listen to match highlights and Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott's analysis of each day's play on the Test Match Special podcast.