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McCullum upbeat despite Lord's defeat

Black Caps skipper promises no knee-jerk reaction and a continuation of their attacking cricket

Losing stings but New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum found plenty to be upbeat about following England's first Test triumph at Lord's.

McCullum praised the fighting display from the hosts, who closed out a 124-run win after dominating the last two days of a pulsating Test.

He also found it hard to criticise his own team, who scored a total of 743 runs across two innings and claimed 20 English wickets.

"We ticked off a lot of things which normally would lead to a Test win," he said.

"To England's credit, they were too good for us in the crucial stages of this Test match. It hurts a lot but at the same time the message to the team will be very much that we weren't far away."

It was just the 14th time in Test history that a team has lost after scoring more than 500 in the first innings.

McCullum said New Zealand's bowling was generally good and often unlucky, while he praised the resolute batting of centurion Kane Williamson in the first innings and BJ Watling's stubborn 59 in the second.

Trying to pin down how they lost, he picked out ducks to openers Martin Guptill and Tom Latham and himself on Monday as crucial in what had started out as a genuine pursuit for 375 to win the Test.

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McCullum chopped on his first ball from Stokes // Getty Images

"Three guys in the top six facing four balls between them, it makes chasing any total pretty difficult," he said.

"In the end, that's probably what took the wind out of our sails."

The tourists have three days to prepare for the second and final Test at Headingley in Leeds, where they lost the equivalent encounter by 247 runs two years ago.

Like Lord's, Headingley is the scene of just one New Zealand Test win, while they have lost five of the seven Tests there.

McCullum says there is every reason to believe they can square the series at a ground that has yielded just two draws in its last 17 Tests.

"Attacking cricket is the mentality we have to take in. It's served us well over the last 18-24 months.

"There will be no knee-jerk reaction to a result like this because we were pretty good for most of it."

There is plenty at stake for New Zealand. A series loss would result in a drop from third to seventh on the tightly packed world rankings ladder.