Close: NZ 252/3 (Nicholls 119 Mitchell 32)
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Costly dropped catches by the rookie keeper James Rew allowed NZ to escape from 28 for two to a position of towering supremacy.
A bruising day for England at the hands of Henry Nicholls and friends. A poor dropped catch, some ropey tactics, and this game is gone.
OVER 56: NZ 252/3 (Nicholls 119 Mitchell 32)
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Nicholls off a fine two sessions for New Zealand by skewing a drive off a thick edge through gully for four. That’s the close of play.
Earlier I said that 263 for nine, the Hirst-Rhodes Test of 1902, was the highest successful chase here. But nine teams have scored more in the fourth innings, none more so than India’s 429 for eight in 1979.
New Zealand lead by 352.
OVER 55: NZ 243/3 (Nicholls 111 Mitchell 31)
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Handsome stroke from Nicholls who is going to take some shifting tomorrow. England have a field tilted to the onside and Tongue’s strategy is to angle it in to him but this one is too full and Nicholls just eases on to the front foot to caress it through cover for four.
One over to come.
OVER 54: NZ 243/3 (Nicholls 111 Mitchell 31)
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‘Come on Golden Arm,’ shouts James Rew as Bethell is brought back for a final spell.
Mitchell sweeps the left-arm spinner for four and they filch four more singles. He bowls well to left-handers but is struggling for consistency now it’s one of each in partnership and one of each who rotate the strike so frequently.
This is an England team without a core, having so many new and young players. Not a problem in white ball games but Test cricket strips you bare for all to see. Joe Root is about to extend his captaincy run to Won 27 Lost 27.
OVER 53: NZ 235/3 (Nicholls 109 Mitchell 25)
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Time for the darling of the JM Finn Stand. Josh Tongue comes back for a third spell and Mitchell flicks three off his toes. Nicholls also uses the angle across to clip a single but ends the over chipping the ball just short of Bethell at midwicket.
OVER 52: NZ 230/3 (Nicholls 108 Mitchell 22)
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Gay has been posted at leg slip but seems to be a bit of an Unlucky Alf in terms of his positioning. Mitchell clips Brook off his pads a foot fine of the fielder for four. Nicholls drives the part-timer to cover and runs three as they milk nine in total from the over. That entry about England not drifting a while back, they are now. In the words of Michael Atherton, ‘They’re chasing the game now, paying for the mistakes of the first two days.’
OVER 51: NZ 221/3 (Nicholls 105 Mitchell 16)
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Mitchell has had enough of blocking and uses the angle to tickle Fisher wide of leg slip off his pads for four then winds up to whack a good length ball over mid-on for the first six of the innings. Rew, standing up, cannot gather one outside off that Mitchell had left, tipping it round the post for a bye.
OVER 50: NZ 209/3 (Nicholls 104 Mitchell 5)
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Brook starts with a maiden with his dobbers, the ball shaping in to the right-handed Mitchell, looking for that knee roll and giving him no opportunity to free his arms.
OVER 49: NZ 209/3 (Nicholls 104 Mitchell 5)
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As Mark Wood says, on days like these when you haven’t put as many runs on the board as necessary, the bowlers have to keep trucking in. Fisher does so and racks up a third successive maiden.
Harry Brook is coming on with his RAF, right-arm filth.
OVER 48: NZ 209/3 (Nicholls 104 Mitchell 5)
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Some parts of the JM Finn stand are treating an England fast-bowler to choruses of ‘Forever Tongue, I want to be forever Tongue’. Meanwhile Bethell ties Nicholls down to a solitary single as someone is overheard on the stump mic reminding New Zealand’s batsmen that it rain is forecast for tomorrow. Is it? Boesn’t appear to be so according to the Met Office. Mind games.
To Rew’s credit he hasn’t gone into his shell. He is far more vocal in his encouragement that the diffident Jamie Smith.
OVER 47: NZ 208/3 (Nicholls 103 Mitchell 5)
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Maiden for Fisher to Mitchell, plugging away and probing until he sprays one down the legside that Rew half-stops at the cost of a stinging blow on the end of the ring finger on his left hand.
OVER 46: NZ 208/3 (Nicholls 103 Mitchell 5)
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Mitchell whisks two runs off his pads to midwicket, nurdles another in the general vicinity off Bethell and Nicholls pounces on a long hop to pull the spinner hard through midwicket and bring up his 11th Test century. Given a life on 21 by Rew, he has cashed in ever since.
New Zealand lead by 308, building a tower to the sun, brick and rivet and lime.
OVER 45: NZ 199/3 (Nicholls 98 Mitchell 1)
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Fisher is given a ring field, a short mid-on and instructions to bowl cutters with the keeper standing up to the stumps. He obliges with a maiden, holding Nicholls on 98, making him sweat and wait for those two runs.
OVER 44: NZ 199/3 (Nicholls 98 Mitchell 1)
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Just the two singles off Bethell’s fourth over as the rotation between right and left-handers after four mollydookers in a row demands differing lines of attack.
OVER 43: NZ 197/3 (Nicholls 97 Mitchell 0)
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Nicholls has taken a more aggressive approach to Baker now, gloving a bouncer on the hook well wide of Rew for four before taking a step towards the square leg umpire to flat-bat a swat down the ground for another. Baker, who Stuart Broad points out, is releasing the ball well before the popping crease, is livid.
OVER 42: NZ 189/3 (Nicholls 89 Mitchell 0)
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Bethell has carried genuine threat to the left-handers throughout because there are footholds with edges that help the ball turn back in unpredictably. It was a tight call to give Ravindra, who was unhappy with the umpire, out but England will hope that it’s a symbol of changing fortunes.
Wicket!
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Ravindra lbw b Bethell 76 A bit like Root’s yesterday in terms of ball tracking, albeit Root’s was from a quicker bowler, it was umpire’s call on hitting him in the line of off stump but would have gone on to smash into leg and middle after evading his attempted sweep. FOW 189/3
OVER 41: NZ 186/2 (Nicholls 87 Ravindra 75)
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Three ducks in the over but Nicholls seems to lose patience after squatting beneath one and retreats to leg to uppercut Baker over cover for four. He works a single off his pads and invites Ravindra to practice dropping to his haunches.
OVER 40: NZ 180/2 (Nicholls 82 Ravindra 74)
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Ravindra brings up the 150 partnership by shovelling a single fine off his pads, the third of Bethell’s second over. Nicholls sweeps for two and is then subjected to some horrible bounce when Bethell finds the foothold again and the ball explodes on to his handle while his gloves were raised to protect his chest. The ball pops behind square, safe from the infield.
On come the drinks.
Just to amplify the point when Jacob Bethell came on to bowl: it was he, as I was observing through my binoculars, who pointed Emilio Gay to field at deep square. Only after Gay had trotted off there did Joe Root get annoyed and tell him to get prepared to field at short leg.
OVER 39: NZ 175/2 (Nicholls 79 Ravindra 72)
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Baker relieves Tongue and bounces Nicholls, targeting his armpit. Nicholls goes after it, has a swish at pull and Bethell takes it on the bounce at fine leg. Nearly.
The next bouncer only gets up as high as Ravindra’s waistband and he swivels to absolutely lamp it through backward square for four. It went like a torpedo. Another short ball does rear up properly and Ravindra turns turtle to duck-hook it for a single.
Unusual, but Joe Root is getting a bit peeved here. He’s screamed at Emilio Gay, because he went to the boundary rather than getting his shin pads on at short leg. A catch has just evaded Gay in there, but the conversation is a reminder that this is effectively a scratch team. No one quite knows where they are going.
OVER 38: NZ 169/2 (Nicholls 78 Ravindra 67)
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Root replaces himself with Bethell and goes ape with Gay when the fielder, by rote, jogs out to the rope. He wants him to stay under the lid and makes his point assertively. Gay hotfoots it back and puts his armour on.
Oh my word. Gay then makes a mess of a chance at short leg. He had a lot of ground to make up when Ravindra nicked one that ragged out of a foothold, tickled the inside edge then popped up off his pad. It hang in the air for a while but Gay couldn’t get his feet moving quickly enough and ended up lunging at it one-handed and not reaching it.
One England player who has had a good afternoon: the offspinner Shoaib Bashir. If Ben Stokes comes back at Trent Bridge, then he can too, as part of a package. Joe Root doesn’t have much variety to call on …
Jamie Smith has had a very good afternoon, too…
OVER 37: NZ 168/2 (Nicholls 77 Ravindra 67)
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England switch to leg theory, bringing on the helmet and sticking Gay under the lid at short leg. Tongue’s first effort sits up invitingly outside off and Ravindra leans back to flay it through cover point for four. A flaccid bouncer follows and Ravindra turns it round the corner for a single. Nicholls ducks a lifting bouncer then pops a single off a leading edge when trying to tuck it off his hip. Ravindra ends the over with another belting four, pivoting to collar a pull behind square.
OVER 36: NZ 157/2 (Nicholls 75 Ravindra 58)
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England cannot be accused of drifting but they are, as Scyld says, paying the price of not having the courage to pick a wrist-spinner. Root wheels away and tries to tempt Nicholls with flight but the batsman gobbles it up, using his feet to chip it back over the locum captain’s head for four. Fisher gave chase and slid to try to claw it back but crashed into the rubber toblerones on connection with the ball.
OVER 35: NZ 151/2 (Nicholls 70 Ravindra 57)
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Tongue gets one to bite and spit up off a good length to jam Nicholls’ left index finger into the bat handle. On comes the physio and England inquire whether the ball is still round. It isn’t and the umpires call for a replacement.
After a lengthy delay when drinks were taken, play resumes with a different ball.
Tongue sprays the first attempt with it down the legside, clipping Nicholls’ ankle and going down for four leg byes.
It’s gone very quiet out there for England on the field. I can’t hear much chatter at all from the fielders. New Zealand are cruising along; these next couple of hours could take the Test decisively in their direction. But the pitch remains excellent: England lost by six runs chasing 374 against India here last year.
OVER 34: NZ 147/2 (Nicholls 70 Ravindra 57)
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Root carries on and ties Nicholls up for five dot balls before he bunts a low full toss past the bowler’s right hand for a single.
OVER 33: NZ 146/2 (Nicholls 69 Ravindra 57)
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Ravindra, who dropped sitters at Lord’s and here, shows Rew that you can redeem yourself with the bat by bringing up fifty with a pair of fours off the returning Tongue, creaming a cover drive off the first ball and drilling a square drive to pass the milestone. Make that three – Ravindra ends the over leaning into a fuller one on middle and flicking it with glorious timing through midwicket for four.
How they could do with a certain someone:
OVER 32: NZ 134/2 (Nicholls 69 Ravindra 45)
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Root returns and the two left-handers milk him for two singles and a two, the latter from Nicholls’ sweep. Gay makes good ground to save it from going for four.
OVER 31: NZ 130/2 (Nicholls 66 Ravindra 44)
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Archer angles a bouncer into the point of Nicholls’ shoulder and he flaps it round the corner, just short of a diving Gay at leg gully. A single apiece into the legside sandwich that moment that had the crowd roaring as Gay grabbed it on the bounce.
OVER 30: NZ 128/2 (Nicholls 65 Ravindra 43)
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One half of the Glimmer Twins, Sir Mick Jagger, is shown sitting on a balcony watching his favourite sport. He is sitting next to Richard Stilgoe, tyro Lord’s Taverner and lyricist. Mark Butcher quips that England may be praying ‘Gimme Shelter’ at this moment. The outllook has been painted black.
Fisher treats Nicholls to a half volley which he dispatches with a smoking cover drive for four.
OVER 29: NZ 124/2 (Nicholls 61 Ravindra 43)
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A crashing square cut from Henry Nicholls off Archer is perhaps the pick of his innings so far that is becoming more fluent by the ball.
OVER 28: NZ 119/2 (Nicholls 56 Ravindra 43)
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New Zealand start to turn the screw: Nicholls pops on to the front foot to drive Fisher through point for four then opens the face to dab four more behind point. He pushes another single square of the wicket on the offside then Ravindra, he of the dexterous wrists, plays a lovely late cut off the Surrey seamer for four more. That’s Nicholls’ 13th Test half-century to go with 10 tons.
OVER 27: NZ 106/2 (Nicholls 47 Ravindra 39)
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Nicholls earns four off his glove past Rew’s right hand. Archer can’t believe it. The No 3 bat then whisks a single off his pads and Ravindra carts a pull through midwicket for four. Archer is ticking. No one wants to have a blast a kid on debut but Archer’s palpable frustration that was building with dropped catches during the Ashes is understandable. As Roy Keane would say. He’s doing his job in cauldron heat, the least he can expect is others to do theirs properly.
Rew drops another chance
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Nicholls gloves it high to the keeper’s right when trying to hook Archer.
Archer says something that rhymes with ‘Go duck!’ in exasperation.
OVER 26: NZ 97/2 (Nicholls 42 Ravindra 35)
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Matt Fisher starts the third session and James Rew is now standing up to the stumps. Root has an unorthodox field with two catchers at midwicket, one at cover, a third slip and a shortish backward point.
After Nicholls chops three through point, Root moves one of the catching midwickets to cover and third slip to first slip. Ravindra tries to cut Fisher and misses. Rew drops the ball. Was there an edge? Nope.
TEA: NZ 94/2 (Nicholls 39 Ravindra 35)
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New Zealand take tea 194 ahead.
Highest successful chase at the Oval, you ask? England’s 263 for nine against Australia in 1902 but there were not three debutants in that side.
OVER 25: NZ 94/2 (Nicholls 39 Ravindra 35)
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New Zealand are pootling along nicely in the blazing sun now. Baker continues with the last over before tea and Ravindra defends a couple, prods and flicks a couple more but cannot beat the infield then climbs into a slightly shorter one and laces it off the back foot for four through the offside.
They have put on 66 and are well-placed to put England through a world of pain over the next couple of hours in searing heat.
OVER 24: NZ 90/2 (Nicholls 39 Ravindra 31)
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Archer is going to have an over before tea and is given a field that implies a chin symphony. Nicholls ducks the first two bumpers and the umpire signals that he’s had his two for the over so Root changes the field. After five dot balls Nicholls eases on to his back foot to rifle a drive on the up through point for four.
OVER 23: NZ 86/2 (Nicholls 35 Ravindra 31)
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Cox rolls his left ankle when slipping on the outfield as he chased down Ravindra’s well-timed punch through cover for four. The copper-topped batsman gets up gingerly but seems to be OK. There are a lot of Norman-haired England adjacent cricketers these days to succeed Jonny Bairstow, the russet run-rustler: The Rew brothers, Cox and maybe there’s something rusty lurking beneath Bethell’s bleach. Stokes, of course, carries the flag.
OVER 22: NZ 81/2 (Nicholls 34 Ravindra 27)
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Nicholls takes to the dance floor, chassés towards Root and pumps an off-drive for a one-bounce four. Root tosses the next one up higher and Nicholls RSVPs with a blistering drive that blazes a trail to the long-off boundary. That’s the fifty partnership.
OVER 21: NZ 71/2 (Nicholls 25 Ravindra 27)
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Baker replaces Tongue and resumes with a maiden, reaching 90mph and plugging away outside Ravindra’s off-stump as they try to take his leg glances and flicks out of the equation.
Unhappy debut
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It’s not proving to be a happy Test debut for James Rew. Unless anyone knows better about Dick Spooner of Warwickshire in the 1950s, Rew is the first England Test wicketkeeper to be left hand dominant - but this has not helped him because he has spilt two chances going to his left hand.
In the first instance we have Matt Prior to thank for his observation that Rew did not squat down low enough before diving, thus he came down on the ball with his left glove and made it touch the ground.
In the second instance, when Rew dropped Ravindra on 8, he seemed - to us non keepers - to get down sufficiently low, but dropped the chance. Was it because the England bowling is significantly quicker than the Somerset pace bowling which he is used to?
Rew conceded 22 byes in New Zealand’s first innings when the ball was doing all sorts after pitching when Jofra Archer was bowling. The most conceded by any keeper in a Test is 52 byes – Matt Prior on a pitch of uncertain bounce in Trinidad.
OVER 20: NZ 71/2 (Nicholls 25 Ravindra 27)
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Root rattles through his second over and ends it with a stifled appeal after trapping Nicholls on the back leg in front of middle. But he had discerned a feather off the inside edge and decided not to review, cursing his luck in terms that prompted Nasser Hussain to apologise to the lip-readers watching on.
OVER 19: NZ 71/2 (Nicholls 25 Ravindra 26)
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With the help of a pitch that is behaving erratically Tongue delivers an unplayable ‘guzunder’ to Ravindra reminiscent of the one that did for Bethell at Lord’s. This one whistles through at shin height and burns a coat of lacquer off the stumps with its vapour trail. Tongue tries to hit that spot again but this one is a touch fuller and Ravindra creams a drive under the diving Archer’s at mid-off for four.
OVER 18: NZ 66/2 (Nicholls 25 Ravindra 21)
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Root brings himself on and starts round the wicket as he does for right- and left-handers alike these days. It’s full of drama too as Root pins Nicholls first ball with his slider that was arrowing past leg stump. Nicholls taps a single towards cover then Ravindra takes on Archer at mid-off for another and getting home. Nicholls topples when sweeping for a single then Ravindra uses his feet but cloths the drive to mid-on and scampers a single when it drops 6ft short of the diving Archer.
OVER 17: NZ 62/2 (Nicholls 23 Ravindra 19)
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Pity James Rew’s parents didn’t have the mischief to name him Rupert or we could have had a ‘Roo Rew rues’ start to the sentence about that drop. It did look like a relative dolly for a keeper but keeping wicket is hard and never harder than in a debut Test against a bowler of high pace.
Nicholls burgles a sharp single to cover as Duckett swoops to shy at the stumps… and misses. Ravindra ends the over taking on the placement of a silly mid on by skelping it past him for four.
OVER 16: NZ 57/2 (Nicholls 22 Ravindra 15)
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Ravindra makes the most of his life with a Ranji-esque leg-glance for four off Baker, twisting it off his toes to the unprotected deep backward square boundary.
OVER 15: NZ 52/2 (Nicholls 21 Ravindra 11)
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Tongue is bowling very well and should have had another wicket. Rew drops a routine catch for a keeper and from the next ball Ravindra adds insult to injury by whisking a fuller one uppishly through midwicket for four. The last ball of the over shoots through low, scuttling under the toe of the left-hander’s vertical bat as he shaped to defend. Gasps all round as it also buzzes past off stump.
Rew drops Ravindra
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Tongue elicits the edge when Ravindra drives at a full one but the debutant keeper drops it diving to his left, the ball hitting the ring and little fingers of his left hand. Brook tries to make amends by hurling down the stumps but Ravindra had got back in.
OVER 14: NZ 48/2 (Nicholls 21 Ravindra 7)
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Root changes tack after the break with Baker’s field, bringing in a second slip to go with first and fourth, plus the leg gully and also an onside ring. Nicholls takes the bait of Baker’s short ball into his body, pulling hard past Gay’s dive at leg gully to fine leg for two. Baker strangles an appeal when he fires one at 89mph into Nicholls’ pads, knowing he had beaten him but that the ball would have drifted down leg. Nicholls picks up two more runs with a clump through point off the back foot.
We all know a few "Matt Henrys" in sport; excellent players who spend most of their careers in the shadows because they came along at the wrong time when multiple greats of the game are driving the vehicle up front. Then the sun comes up and Matt gets his chance to showcase his…
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) June 19, 2026
Missing Rehan Ahmed
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The consensus seems to be that this Oval pitch is “a new-ball wicket”. But then everywhere in English cricket nowadays seems to be “a new-ball wicket” – except for Lord’s which helped every kind of pace bowler. But these pitches would not labelled as they are if teams now selected a specialist spinner. Both sides here have failed to mop up the opposing tail because they haven’t had a wrist-spinner to do the job when the ball has got old.
OVER 13: NZ 44/2 (Nicholls 17 Ravindra 7)
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Tongue finally yields a run off the 15th ball of his spell after continuing to build pressure with pace and angle. An inside edge into his pad allows Nicholls to get off strike and Ravindra picks up two when Tongue veers towards middle and leg again.
On come the drinks.
OVER 12: NZ 41/2 (Nicholls 16 Ravindra 5)
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Baker was fielding right in front of us on Wednesday after taking his first wicket. He was so chuffed to take his maiden wicket he was almost twitching with adrenalin and excitement for half an hour. He was also beaming throughout, nattering away to himself, like Marti Pellow in whites. Incidentally, my friends had brought with them the usual snacking supplies of sausage rolls, scotch eggs and pasties. I had to leave at tea to come into the office to work on the England vs Croatia match only to find a gift box from Gregg’s waiting on my desk. I don’t think I can look at another pork product for six months.
Ravindra uses the angle in to him from round the wicket to pat a single to midwicket and Nicholls punches a back-foot drive for two.
OVER 11: NZ 37/2 (Nicholls 13 Ravindra 4)
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Tongue racks up another maiden, changing his length subtly throughout the over to keep Nicholls uncertain about his footwork.
Root summons Sonny Baker to replace Fisher.
OVER 10: NZ 37/2 (Nicholls 13 Ravindra 4)
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Root has adopted the funky fields of the early Stokes years with a leg gully for Fisher, a first slip and a fourth slip. The first ball to Nicholls shoots through low, nutmegs Rew who could not snap his legs together quickly enough and rattles down for four byes.
Nicholls flicks a single to midwicket and Ravindra then gets off the mark with a flourish, a thumping pull in front of square for four. He has had a poor series to date but is a class batsman.
OVER 9: NZ 28/2 (Nicholls 12 Ravindra 0)
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Excellent start by Tongue who is making the ball move both ways and peppering a very tricky length only slightly short of good. After dismissing Conway he pins the fourth left-hander in NZ’s top-order, zooming one into Ravindra’s front pad. He rotates in his followthrough to bellow an appeal but it moved so much it had to have been missing leg, which Rew confirms when consulted by Root.
Wicket maiden.
Poor batting from New Zealand’s top three has been a theme of the series. A really rash drive from Conway. England getting back in the Test match.
Wicket!
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Conway c Brook b Tongue 11 Bags a wicket with his first ball as Conway chases a wide one, has a wild yahoo at a drive and Brook takes a very good catch at second slip. That flew at his throat. Must have asbestos hands to go with his sharp reactions. FOW 28/2
OVER 8: NZ 28/1 (Conway 11 Nicholls 12)
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There must be some spicy pitches in the first division of the County Championship: Essex are 126 for five, Glamorgan 79 for six, Yorkshire 117 for five, Somerset 117 for seven and Sussex 103 for three. Or it could be a case, as Sir Geoffrey would say, of “rank, bad battin’”.
Conway has a flap at a Fisher bouncer, ties himself in knots as it grew big on him and ends up popping it into the legside. After that panic, he takes a sharp single to midwicket and Nicholls pulls another shorter one for two.
Tongue will replace Archer.
OVER 7: NZ 25/1 (Conway 10 Nicholls 10)
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Conway plays tip and run to midwicket and Archer adds another to the score with a rare no-ball for him. Nicholls ends the over with a pair of square drives, one creamed for four, the other more tappy in terms of connection that squirts it past point for two. That’s four over from Archer which has one for 19. Tongue will replace him for the next over one would think.
OVER 6: NZ 17/1 (Conway 9 Nicholls 4)
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Conway more confident about leaving the ball slanting across him now and waits for Fisher’s inswinger to whisk three through midwicket with a flick of the wrist. Nicholls has a black strap high on his left forearm. Looks more like a balm for tennis elbow than protection.
It’s baking today – not an easy day to sit in the sun the entire day, as idyllic as that sounds. For all its charms, The Oval lacks seats that provide cover from the sun.
Too true. I was there on Wednesday for the first two sessions in the JM Finn Stand and I had to apply so much suncream I looked like I’d taken a shower under a Mr Whippy spigot. Mind, I have friends who went to the Adelaide Oval in December and had to leave at tea as they couldn’t take the heat anymore. It was like being Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai.
OVER 5: NZ 14/1 (Conway 6 Nicholls 4)
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Archer keeps the interrogation by heat up and Nicholls begins to settle into it, judging and leaving on line more astutely, chiselling out the yorker and playing a Root-style dab to glean two down behind point.
OVER 4: NZ 12/1 (Conway 6 Nicholls 2)
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Terrific over from Fisher who is making the ball talk with wobble and scrambled seam, seeming to threaten Conway’s outside edge with a ball that then ducked in late also to threaten the stumps. Two balls later he squares Conway up with one that swings in and straightens to hit him in front of middle and leg with a ball pitching outside leg. Root asked him whether he wanted to review it but he saw it all the way and wisely shakes his head.
OVER 3: NZ 10/1 (Conway 4 Nicholls 2)
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Jofra is bowling like the wind now. Having dismissed Latham, he almost cuts the left-handed Nicholls in two with one that nips in and screeches uncomfortably past his box. At 91mph that was a potential emasculator of a delivery. The next ball is shorter, tucks Nicholls up as he tried to jab a pull and pops up off his thigh guard safely. Archer follows that up with a fuller delivery that pitches on a fourth-stump line and keeps coming in to beat Nicholls on the inside edge.
Nicholls gets off the mark by going up on to his toes to steer a back of a length delivery down to third man for two.
I am sitting outside and this over from Jofra Archer has got the crowd right involved. England’s fielders are excited, and there feels like there could be a wicket every ball. Archer bowling 90mph consistently.
Wicket!
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Latham c Rew b Archer 4 Angled in from round the wicket, climbed and straightened. The line more than the movement and bounce made the Kiwi captain fence at it and he nicked it through to the keeper. Good nut. Fine start for England. FOW 8/1
OVER 2: NZ 8/0 (Latham 4 Conway 4)
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Matt Fisher shares new-ball duties. He has Robinson style pace and control but lacks the height that makes the frail Robinson such a special talent… when fit. Conway looks hesitant against the over the wicket line from the seamer, trying to leave but is surprised by the bounce and struck on the gloves. Inadvertently he guides the ball painfully into the turf.
OVER 1: NZ 7/0 (Latham 3 Conway 4)
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Archer has two slips and a gully. Also a leg slip which has been common with England for the last couple of years. The left-handed Latham clips the first ball of the third innings off his toes for two. Superb batting conditions. Archer is up at 88mph and looking to bowl full from round the wicket. Latham works a single off the knee roll, using the angle, then Conway plays a fetching check-drive past mid-off for four. The evidence of his next stroke, another attempted drive which he scuffs into the grass, suggests he is going to be aggressive.
Archer responds with a ferocious nip-backer that Conway leaves on length and whistles over the middle and leg bail. Ultimately it was sound judgment but still a close shave.
Joe Root has his team in a huddle
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They trail by 100 as Tom Latham and Devon Conway stride to the pitch. Jofra Archer has the new ball from the Pavilion End.
Lunch
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The timing of the wicket means lunch will be taken. New Zealand will start their second innings with a lead of exactly 100.
Gorgeous figures for Gus Atkinson in Cardiff - 8-5-8-2.
As I type that, England’s first innings ends. They’re 100 behind, which is exactly what they conceded in their dreadful opening session yesterday. That has been the difference in this match.
Wicket!
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Baker c Latham b Jamieson 4 Baker edges a defensive stroke to second slip to end a fine last-wicket partnership. Almost all of the run-scoring was done by Matthew Fisher, who finishes on 50 not out. FOW: 291 all out
OVER 83: ENG 291/9 (Fisher 50 Baker 4)
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Well played Matthew Fisher! He reaches his first Test fifty, and only his third in first-class cricket, by deliberately scuffing Henry through square lag for four. “Get that bat nice and high, Fish!” says Mark Wood on commentary.
Those runs also bring up an unlikely fifty partnership with Sonny Baker.
OVER 82: ENG 287/9 (Fisher 46 Baker 4)
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A maiden from Jamieson to Baker, who has defended with great determination. He has 4 from 30 balls - and those runs came when he edged a defensive stroke.
Sharp opening spell from Stokes
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Stokes finished his first spell bowling spell with figures of 6-2-16-0 and looked sharp. He should have had a wicket when Ricardo Vasconcelos was dropped by Ben McKinney at leg slip and also smacked Luke Procter on the helmet with a nasty bouncer. The exiled England skipper also look distraught when Procter survived a huge lbw appeal in his final over.
OVER 81: ENG 287/9 (Fisher 46 Baker 4)
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Matt Henry takes the second new ball and puts his hands to his head when Fisher carves a streaky boundary over the slips.
In other news, Gus Atkinson has gone to work at Cardiff, where he has figures of 8-5-8-2 for Surrey.
OVER 80: ENG 281/9 (Fisher 40 Baker 4)
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A fabulous shot from Fisher, who jumps across his crease to flick-pull Smith wide of long leg for four. He thwonks another cracking boundary through the covers, then works a single to fine leg to keep strike.
England would love to get the deficit down into double figures; they currently trail by 110.
England’s weakest ever tail (no, not this one)
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England’s tenth-wicket stand has been as important as the Tongue-Bashir partnership at Lord’s, recovering a little poise. Better by far than their weakest tail ever in 1999, when New Zealand last played a Test at the Oval: Andy Caddick at 8 was roughly the equal of Jofra Archer as a batsman, followed by Phil Tufnell, Alan Mullally and Ed Giddins (not in that order because they weren’t good enough to be put in any order). The overall point is that a side is demoralised if the tail does not contribute, and Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker got stuck in.
OVER 79: ENG 272/9 (Fisher 31 Baker 4)
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Fisher has a hack at Ravindra and gets an under-edge that goes to leg slip on the bounce. Then he tries to cut a quicker ball and is dropped by the keeepr Blundell, an extremely tough chance from another big deflection.
OVER 78: ENG 271/9 (Fisher 30 Baker 4)
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When Smith bangs in a bouncer, Fisher gets his second boundary with a controlled pull round the corner for four. An inside-edge past the stumps allows him to keep strike. Fair play, this has been an excellent innings.
OVER 77: ENG 264/9 (Fisher 23 Baker 4)
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New Zealand turn to the occasional left-arm spin of Rachin Ravindra, who is flicked for another single by Fisher. England trail by 127.
OVER 76: ENG 263/9 (Fisher 22 Baker 4)
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While England’s last-wicket pair continue to frustrate New Zealand, Gus Atkinson has taken his first wicket of the day for Surrey against Glamorgan.
OVER 75: ENG 262/9 (Fisher 21 Baker 4)
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Sonny Baker gets off the mark by edging his 16th delivery for four. He may be a proper No11 but he’s playing responsibly in support of Fisher; their last-wicket partnership is worth 24.
Concussion check after Stokes hits Northants opener
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Ben Stokes has just sent a vicious bouncer into the helmet of Luke Procter, who was completely beaten for pace. Game paused for concussion checks.
OVER 74: ENG 258/9 (Fisher 21 Baker 0)
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O’Rourke goes around the wicket and hits Fisher flush on the grille. He’ll need a concussion check.
OVER 73: ENG 256/9 (Fisher 19 Baker 0)
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A double bowling change, with Nathan Smith also coming on. Sonny Baker is beaten by a ball that only just misses the top of off stump. Drinks.
Ben Stokes latest: he has figures of 2-0-8-0.
Joe Root on a hiding to nothing
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I wonder if in years to come we are going to look at this England XI and wonder how they ever took the field as a collective in a Test match. It has been a bit of a hiding to nothing for Joe Root in this game. He has five players with two caps between them and half of the attack should be on a Lions tour. Archer is not match fit and Tongue had an off day yesterday. Today could be painful, a slow braising of English hopes in the sun - a bit like being on tour.
OVER 72: ENG 255/9 (Fisher 18 Baker 0)
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Tom Lathan invites his enforcer, Will O’Rourke, to end this irritating little partnership. Fisher makes room to slam his first ball for four - a fine stroke but potentially an unwise one. I certainly wouldn’t want to poke O’Rourke.
Two balls later, Fisher is hit on the arm by a nasty delivery that follows him outside leg stump.
OVER 71: ENG 250/9 (Fisher 14 Baker 0)
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Six years into his Test career, Matt Henry had a bowling average of 51.54 from 13 games. It’s such a crazy stat because he’s a class act who was doing very well in white-ball cricket for most of that time. He got there in the end: in the last five years he had a Hadlee-ish record of 109 wickets at 20.24 apiece.
OVER 70: ENG 249/9 (Fisher 13 Baker 0)
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Fisher continues to eke out as many runs as possible. England are still 142 behind, but every little helps.
Dropped catch denies Stokes early wicket
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Ben Stokes has come on to bowl for Durham and there was warm applause again when his name was called out - and he should have had a wicket with his fourth ball but Ben McKinney dropped a simple chance at leg slip. A lucky escape for South African opener Ricardo Vasconcelos.
OVER 69: ENG 246/9 (Fisher 10 Baker 0)
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A scoop from Fisher whacks Blundell in the stomach. That, as Simon Doull says on Sky, is one way to push the keeper back.
Fisher survives a run-out chance after back for a second run. Conway’s throw bounced awkwardly in front of Blundell, who couldn’t take it cleanly with Fisher short of his ground. Not the greatest throw from Conway, who on reflection should have gone to the bowler’s end.
A pleasant cut for three takes Fisher into double figures. For some reason New Zealand have spread the field for Fisher, a decent lower-order batsman (F-C avge: 17) but no more than that.
In other news, Ben Stokes is about to bowl his first over for Durham against Northants. Who’s writing his script today?
OVER 68: ENG 241/9 (Fisher 5 Baker 0)
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Super catch from Nathan Smith, jumping at mid off and then taking the ball with his right hand on the second attempt before falling to the ground. That gives Matt Henry his fifth wicket: he’s been outstanding, bowling with his characteristic accuracy and zip off the pitch. How different might the first Test have been had Henry been fully fit during the game? England are in a dreadful position: they’ve been outbatted, outbowled and outfielded so far at the Oval.
OVER 67: ENG 238/9 (Fisher 2 Baker 0)
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England trail by 153 runs and are in abundant bother.
Wicket!
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Tongue c Smith b Henry 1 Five wickets for Matt Henry! Tongue lifted him towards mid-on, where the backpedalling Smith took an excellent catch at the second attempt. New Zealand have been razor sharp in the field this morning. FOW: 238/9
OVER 66: ENG 237/8 (Fisher 1 Tongue 1)
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A maiden from Jamieson to Tongue. Meanwhile, in Cardiff, Gus Atkinson has figures of 4-2-6-0 for Surrey against Glamorgan. Ben Stokes hasn’t bowled yet.
OVER 65: ENG 237/8 (Fisher 1 Tongue 1)
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That catch gets better every time you see it.
Wicket!
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Archer c Blundell b Henry 8 Another terrific catch! This time it was Tom Blundell, standing up to the stumps a la Alex Carey, who reacted remarkably well to grab an edge from Archer. That’s some catch because there was a big deflection off the bat. Matt Henry has four wickets, and England have a big problem when the wicketkeeper comes up to the stumps. FOW: 236/8
OVER 64: ENG 236/7 (Archer 8 Fisher 1)
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Fisher takes a short ball from Jamieson on the arm guard. New Zealand are all over England’s lower order.
Harsh lesson for England’s debutants
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That was there to be hit by Cox, who should have kept it on the ground. It’s been a harsh lesson in the realities of Test cricket for England’s debutants this week. England’s hope now has to be getting within 100 and then bowling very well. They’re facing a massive deficit, though.
OVER 62: ENG 236/7 (Archer 8 Fisher 1)
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Eleven of the 14 top-order batters have been dismissed for scores between 24 and 53. Maybe the pitch isn’t quite as good as we think. And perhaps Glenn Phillips’ century was even better than we realised.
Wicket!
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Cox c Latham b Henry 27 That’s a big blow for England. Cox flicks Henry towards short midwicket, where the captain Tom Latham swoops to his right to take a terrific catch. Yet another batsman falls for a nothing score. FOW: 235/7
OVER 62: ENG 235/6 (Cox 27 Archer 8)
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Jofra Archer gets his innings up and running with two stylish boundraies off Jamieson - both through the covers, one off each foot.
Stokes takes to the field for Durham
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Ben Stokes looked in good spirits as he jogged down the steps from the Durham changing room and took his place in the team huddle before Ben Raine bowled the first over of the morning.
The exiled England skipper had a long conversation with another England bowler Matthew Potts before play started and generally looked happy to be back out on a cricket field.
Durham has been his safe space throughout the ups and downs of his career and some of his closest friends play for the county. He was absolutely adamant he wanted to play against Northamptonshire.
His presence ensured a larger crowd than usual at the Riverside and his name was loudly cheered by the 600 local schoolchildren invited to the game as part of Durham’s designated School’s Day.
We would have probably preferred to see Durham bat first, rather than bowl, as it has been Stokes’ lack of form out in the middle, that had been the main concern for England before his late-night antics in London a fotrnight ago.
OVER 61: ENG 227/6 (Cox 27 Archer 0)
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A low full toss from Henry is put away for four by Cox, a quick snap of the wrists to send it through square leg.
I still can’t decide whether Jordan Cox is a brilliant domestic player who is just short of international class, or whether England have been sitting on a potential superstar. He’s played some extraordinary innings for Essex and Oval Invincibles in recent years.
OVER 60: ENG 223/6 (Cox 23 Archer 0)
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Kyle Jamieson starts the day with an accurate over to Jordan Cox, who keeps the strike with a single off the last ball. Nicely done. Although England have a long tail, they still have four wickets remaining so Cox doesn’t need to tee off straight away.
Stokes and Atkinson in County Championship action
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So Ben Stokes will have a bowl today. He comes into a strong-looking Durham team to take on Northants. So too will Gus Atkinson at Cardiff. A bit of intrigue away from the Test today, with a full round of Champo matches.
A scorcher at the Oval
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Good morning from the Oval, where it’s a scorcher, easily the hottest day of the Test. There are lots of people wearing headbands here today because it’s ‘Day for Thorpey’ in memory of the Surrey and England legend Graham Thorpe, who died by suicide almost two years ago.
This time yesterday, the game was intriguingly poised, but a wasteful day from England has handed New Zealand the initiative. England had a dreadful morning, but the loss of James Rew so close to stumps, and in very poor fashion, was a bitter blow. If England were rolling up 170 behind, but with the two debutants at the crease, you’d give them a shot at making a game of it. Now, it’s all on Jordan Cox.
A Day for Thorpey at the Oval
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It’s the annual Day for Thorpey at the Oval, and the England players are all warming up in white headband in tribute to Graham Thorpe, the little giant of the Surrey and England teams at the turn of the century.
It’s nearly two years now. The sadness will never be as raw as it was when the news of his death emerged, but nor will it every truly go away.
The aim of A Day for Thorpey, run in conjunction with the charity Mind, is to prompt more conversations about mental health and raise funds for their cricket programme ‘Thorpey’s Bat and Chat.’ You can read more about it here.
Stokes likely to return as England captain for third Test
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Ben Stokes is likely to return as England captain for next week’s third Test at Trent Bridge, with the findings of the investigation into his curfew breach imminent.
Stokes and Gus Atkinson were interviewed by the Cricket Regulator this week and the outcome of an internal investigation by the team management is likely to be released before the end of the second Test at the Oval, for which the pair were dropped.
England insist no final decisions have been made about whether Stokes will play in Nottingham next Thursday, but there has been a clear softening of attitudes over the past week from an initially angry team management.
Welcome back to the realities of England captaincy, Joe
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It did not take long for the harsh reality of the England captaincy to come back and bite Joe Root.
His second day as a temporary plug-and-play replacement for Ben Stokes started with a dismal first hour and never recovered. There were also shades of the Ashes as New Zealand exported to the Oval an Australian method of cutting down Root and Harry Brook.
It was an England day of misfields, a dropped catch, some tactical naivety, a sloppy run-out and no innings of real substance as New Zealand took control.
Good morning
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In the good times, when Bazball was still a source of national pride, England’s batsmen made the miraculous mundane. They were the fastest-scoring team in Test history, by quite a distance, and routinely chased huge fourth-innings targets. The last such run-chase was a year ago this weekend, when they gambolled to 373/5 against India at Headingley. In recent months, alas, they have struggled to score 300 in any innings, never mind just the fourth.
If England are to win the second Test at the Oval, they will probably need to produce their old party trick. They are well behind the game after they ended a poor second day on 222/6 in reply to New Zealand’s 391. All things being equal, New Zealand’s batsmen will have the chance to build on a sizeable first-innings lead. The only real threat to that is Jordan Cox. He will resume on 22 not out, but England have a very long tail so he may have to go into T20 mode – or better still, Hundred mode – sooner than rather than later.
England looked a little rudderless in the field during a scruffy morning session; no surprise given the relative inexperience of the team. Emilio Gay, who top-scored with a patient 53, does not completely agree with that view.
“I know there’s a few debuts and myself, I’ve not really played any Test cricket, but there’s still leaders in the dressing room,” he said. “There’s Jofra, Ben Duckett, Rooty, Brooky; all those guys have played loads of cricket across all formats for England.
“There’s been a lot of outside noise leading up to this Test match but there’s a calmness Joe and Baz have brought to the dressing room. Rooty has been so good at letting everyone focus on their own game and trying to come together as a group. There’s a tightness in the group and everyone is using that energy in the right way.”
Now they just need to play better. England are a dangerous team to write off mid-match, as New Zealand know all too well from their previous tour in 2022. By the end of a sweltering day at the Oval, we’ll have a better idea where this match is heading.