CLOSE: ENG 182 for five
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England are under the cosh after the tame dismissals of Gay and Duckett, Bethell and Rew being done by balls that kept a little low, but Root is still there, surviving one review and batting flawlessly throughout.
OVER 48: ENG 182/5 (Root 75 Cox 0)
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Root takes the single off Jamieson’s second ball, gently pulling it for a single, a pat more than a heave. Cox defends into the offside and sets off for a single but Root rightly sends him back. The Essex batsman digs out a yorker and sizes up a field of three slips, a gully and two catching midwickets. Cox sees Jamieson off and will resume on nought tomorrow morning.
James Rew has been spirited enough to bounce back after a difficult time keeping wicket, especially when Jofra Archer was at full gas. He didn’t deserve a ball keeping that low from Kyle Jamieson.
OVER 47: ENG 181/5 (Root 74 Cox 0)
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NZ bring Henry in for the kill and Root gets up the other end off the first ball with a prod through point. He then watches Cox defend the rest. They rattled through that over to make time for another and have set the field to allow Root a single.
OVER 46: ENG 180/5 (Root 73 Cox 0)
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There was not much interest in Jamieson’s lobbying for a review but he must have been very persuasive as Latham relented in the nick of time. Enter Cox who survives three balls, defending the last two, the final one of which also kept low and hurried him into a quick adjustment.
Wicket!
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Rew lbw b Jamieson 15 Definitely kept low and Rew was very deep in his crease. On Thursday he fell just before stumps and has done so again, though far less culpably. FOW 180/5
Wow. I am stunned that was given out. Kyle Jamieson is tall, and he’s hit James Rew just below the box. It was a speculative review. I thought that it would be umpire’s call at best. Instead it’s crashing into his stumps!
I thought Rew was batting nicely there, and feel for him. His first innings dismissal was a bit of a howler. This one comes at a very similar time of day, but he’s less at fault.
OVER 45: ENG 180/4 (Root 73 Rew 15)
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Now when NZ could do with a leg slip, they don’t bother with one. Rew reverse sweeps Ravindra for a single to get off strike and Root gives it back to him by hopping back to flick through midwicket for three. ‘Another one tonight, c’mon boys!’ shouts Tom Blundell.
Rew stays upright to replicate Root’s back-foot flick for a single. Should have time for three more overs.
OVER 44: ENG 175/4 (Root 70 Rew 13)
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The trumpeter sounds well lubricated too. Jamieson continues with a maiden to Root.
OVER 43: ENG 175/4 (Root 70 Rew 13)
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Root drives the spinner’s forts ball for a single through cover and Rew shows off his range of strokes with an excellent reverse-sweep for four. Ravindra elicits turn into the left-hander and bounce, kissing the gloves and bringing short leg into play. There are three cries of ‘Catch it!’ only one of which truly passes muster.
OVER 42: ENG 170/4 (Root 69 Rew 9)
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Root takes a single off O’Rourke by gliding it down to third man. Ah, here’s Ravindra and his left-arm tweak as the Saturday evening Mexican Wave fetish kicks off in the crowd.
OVER 41: ENG 169/4 (Root 68 Rew 9)
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Wondering when Latham might give his white-ball spinners, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips, a bowl? Well, not yet. It’s still Smith to Root and Rew and the once and present captain takes a single, pushing a drive through point. Rew plays out the next five assuredly.
OVER 40: ENG 168/4 (Root 67 Rew 9)
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Rew carves a single with a square cut through gully off O’Rourke, Root pulls the quick for another and whisks a fuller one off his toes for a third. In spite of all the danger, it feels like a languid stage of the game. Tickets are £20 tomorrow. Would be worth it of these two can negotiate the next 30 minutes and are still in at stumps.
OVER 39: ENG 165/4 (Root 65 Rew 8)
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Root bottom-edges a cut that nutmegs Blundell and oddly is given as four byes. Root does advance his score with a clip off his toes for a single and Rew has a heart in mouth moment when he leaves on line but the ball nibbles back in and hits him on the thigh. Too high.
OVER 38: ENG 160/4 (Root 64 Rew 8)
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O’Rourke bangs a few in and Root pulls one of them for a single and chops another down to third man for a second. Rew also takes the short ball on, swivelling on a sixpence to cuff it down to fine leg and rotate the strike.
OVER 37: ENG 157/4 (Root 62 Rew 7)
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Root milks Smith for a couple of singles into the legside, Rew pops a short ball into the onside to take one but then ends the over with a stroke of the highest class, a punch on the up through midwicket for four that seemed to be more about the high elbow than the usual slick wrists to play through there.
OVER 36: ENG 150/4 (Root 60 Rew 2)
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O’Rourke tests Rew out with a brute of a delivery that climbs to chest height and nibbles away from the left-hander who can’t help flinching and letting his hands follow the ball. Luckily it moved too far. O’Rourke then manages to make one swing wildly after pitching, flying down the legside before veering and dipping like a drunk wasp towards first slip. Rew ducks the bouncer and, having survived that, may be relieved to see Henry has gone off for a breather and will be replaced by Nathan Smith at the other end.
OVER 35: ENG 150/4 (Root 60 Rew 2)
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Henry, the metronome, is human after all, spraying four byes down the legside then normal service is resumed with five nagging dot balls to Root.
OVER 34: ENG 146/4 (Root 60 Rew 2)
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Root keeps trucking along, working two off his pads and then crouching back to nurdle O’Rourke’s good length ball to point for a single. The Kiwi quick has men out on the hook for Rew who fell into that trap in the first innings but double bluffs witha full one onhis pads that clips them as Rew misses out on a flick and shoots fine for four leg-byes.
OVER 33: ENG 139/4 (Root 57 Rew 2)
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An even better catch than first thought, it came off Blundell’s glove. Rew gets off the mark from his first ball with a flick off his toes for two.
Wicket!
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Brook c Mitchell b Henry 58 The drinks break produces a wicket as it so regularly does. Henry’s nagging line and ability to move the ball both ways troubles the inside- and outside-edges. This one nips away after pitching, kisses the outside edge and Mitchell, whose sight-line was partially blocked by Blundell, takes a smart catch. FOW 139/4
OVER 32: ENG 137/3 (Root 57 Brook 58)
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Maiden for O’Rourke to Root heralds a hydration break. What else will Fifa nick from cricket? They’ll be taking tea to stream adverts by the time the World Cup gets to Saudi Arabia.
OVER 31: ENG 137/3 (Root 57 Brook 58)
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Three singles off Henry as Root nudges two into the offside and Brook whisks one off his toes. England are still in a deep hole but this has been a heartening partnership from the No1 and No2 ranked Test batsmen.
Spectacular entertainment, batting at its best from Harry Brook and Joe Root! But one thing they are not doing yet: putting miles into the legs of the NZ pace bowlers, with the third Test due to start on Thursday. Bold tactics, yes. The best strategy?
OVER 30: ENG 134/3 (Root 55 Brook 57)
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Brook uses the inside edge to Harrow drive Jamieson for a single and needs to change his bat as a result. He then uses the middle to thump two off the back foot to the cover sweeper. The 12th man brings on four Gray Nicholls bats for him to choose from, all with yellow grips. Does anyone still use a black grip?
OVER 29: ENG 130/3 (Root 54 Brook 54)
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Root drops the ball into the covers and hares a single. He has taken his short-sleeve sweater off now. His back must have warmed up. Brook employs DRS to get him off the hook. I think Adrian Holdstock had more excuse for that one. It was just a scratch rather than Root’s when he took a chunk out of the ball.
Brook drives Henry from the crease for a single and Root uses Henry’s inswing to flick two more runs to cow corner.
NOT OUT
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There was an inside edge. Not as thick as Root’s but a spike on snicko nonetheless.
England review
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Brook pinned by Henry. He sends it straight upstairs so must think he hit it.
OVER 28: ENG 126/3 (Root 51 Brook 53)
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A 67th Test fifty to accompany 41 hundreds for Joe Root and he brings it up in typical fashion with a dab down to third man off Jamieson. The trumpeter plays Sheffield United’s Greasy Chip Butty, ie Annie’s Song, in tribute
OVER 27: ENG 120/3 (Root 46 Brook 52)
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Henry has masterly control, shaping in six good length balls to Root as if the great batsman has a bullseye on his front knee-roll. Root defends out the maiden but needs the inside-edge a couple of times because of the movement.
Here’s how Ben Stokes’ innings ended:
OVER 26: ENG 120/3 (Root 46 Brook 52)
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Better from Jamieson who is taken for a single by each Tyke, both into the legside.
OVER 25: ENG 118/3 (Root 45 Brook 52)
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Henry returns and is taken for two singles off a very tight over when he thought he had winkled Root out again.
Harry Brook is veritably Jessoping along, which I suspect means an ugly dismissal is in sight.
New Zealand tried to kid the third umpire there. They tried to intimate that it was pad before bat, but there is no way it could have been, watching a replay. A huge nick.
ENG review
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In what looked like a copy of his first innings dismissal, Root is fired out by Adrian Holdstock when pinned on off stump. But this time there was an inside edge. The umpire may have thought it was pad then bat but the third umpire showed that it was t’other way round. NOT OUT.
OVER 24: ENG 116/3 (Root 44 Brook 51)
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Brook beats Root to fifty with his eighth, ninth and 10th boundaries of his innings, twice opening the face to drive behind point for four sandwiching a monstrous belt over mid-off from down the ground that just fell short of the rope.
OVER 23: ENG 103/3 (Root 43 Brook 39)
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Henry remains out in the long pasture while NZ persevere with Smith at Brook who has taken a liking to ‘Smudge’s length, pulling another back-of-a-length delivery, brutishly hard and flat for four. Brook rotates the strike with a drive drilled out to the boundary rider at cover and Root does the same with a flick off his heels.
Bah! Stokes is out for 95 on resumption at the Riverside. Prior to that he had been in the mood:
OVER 22: ENG 97/3 (Root 42 Brook 34)
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Ben Stokes, by the way, is having his tea on 95 not out at Chester-le-Street.
Jamieson replaces O’Rourke and nips one into Root’s front pod via another feathered inside-edge in a testing maiden taht Root defends solidly.
OVER 21: ENG 97/3 (Root 42 Brook 34)
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Root brings up the 50 partnership off 42 balls when he leg-glances Smith for two. Given another delivery on middle, he clips it through square leg again for a single.
Brook plays and misses at one on a fourth-stump line and Blundell pouches a very good take. New Zealand ask whether the ball is still round after Brook’s off-drive is stopped by the fielder and out cone the rings. It won’t go through so on comes the third umpire, Graham Lloyd, son of David, and a fine Lancashire white-ball cricketer in his own right, brings out the box with such a lack of urgency you can tell he doesn’t have to pay for a ticket.
Smith goes short and straight to Brook with the replacement ball and Brook short-arm pulls it into the stands at cow corner for six!
OVER 20: ENG 88/3 (Root 39 Brook 28)
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Root late cuts O’Rourke for a pair of fours off successive deliveries, getting up on his tip-toes to steer them down through third man. With only one slip there’s a huge gap. After those two boundaries, Latham finally moves leg slip to plug the whole so Root goes up and over the fielder with an uppercut to make it three fours off five balls.
OVER 19: ENG 75/3 (Root 26 Brook 28)
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Smith is trying to keep Brook in his crease and the batsman adapts by siting back and using his exceptional eye and handspeed to play everything off the back foot, pulling only slight back of a length deliveries for a pair of fours with withering power and then two, more riskily, when it doesn’t come off the middle but sails over midwicket nonetheless.
OVER 18: ENG 64/3 (Root 25 Brook 18)
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O’ Rourke has a leg slip, first slip and gully for Brook as well as a deep backward point for his clump over the top. Brook plays a well-timed forward defensive with such good timing that it races down the ground for four. Jamieson gives chase and Mark Butcher has some fun with his name, asking for a double from the notoriously/apocryphally round-shy Nasser Hussain.
Brook does unleash the uppish swipe/slice over point and takes a single to the fielder out there for a misjudgement with that shot then, when Root gives him the strike straight back with a dan through point, collars a short ball outside off with a glorious pull through midwicket for four.
OVER 17: ENG 54/3 (Root 24 Brook 9)
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Stokes is now on 89 off 110 balls and has put on 144 with Will Rhodes.
Smith resumes with Blundell breathing down Root’s neck. Roor defends the swinging ball solidly and chisels out a yorker. It’s Nathan Smith’s first maiden.
Crucial innings for Brook
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Tea on day four and the discussion is whether there will be a day five. Surely England can bat a couple more hours and take this game into the final day, which is hardly a ringing endorsement. You wonder whether Brook has worked out how much he needs to win back support and play a proper, responsible innings. Even in a defeat it would show some sort of corner has been turned. This has been a terrible couple of weeks for England and Stokes should not escape some blame. His actions – whatever you think of its handling, he did what was alleged – left his team in a hole just when they had won at Lord’s and New Zealand were there for the taking.
TEA: ENG 54/3 (Root 24 Brook 9)
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England are in a deep, deep hole. Root and Brook, who both made centuries in a losing case against India here last summer, carry all their hope because après lui, le déluge of two debutants, a No10 batting at No8, a No11 at No9, a Yorkshireman at No10 who can help his kinsmen, and a No11 at No11.
OVER 16: ENG 54/3 (Root 24 Brook 9)
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After four dot balls, Root square drives ferociously through point for four then clips a single off his toes to stride off to tea on 24 and now with 2,000 Test runs against New Zealand.
OVER 15: ENG 49/3 (Root 19 Brook 9)
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Smith probes away while kettling Brook in his crease with the keeper up to the stumps. A tickle of the inside-edge in defence saves Brook from leg-before and for five balls he looks utterly fettered, as if smothered by the keeper’s presence, but Smith then serves up a full, wide one and Brook is instantaneously unchained, creaming a drive through cover for four, the ball smoking on its path to the boundary.
OVER 14: ENG 44/3 (Root 19 Brook 5)
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After that red-faced dismissal for Duckett, Brook joins Root. All down to Burley in Wharfedale and Sheffield now. O’Rourke uses his pace to jar Brook’s funny bone with a ball that spits up and hits the splice then tosses a tempter wider. Brook takes the bait and has an airy-fairy waft at it but survives and gets off the mark off the next ball with a handsome steer behind point, opening the face with confidence and dexterity.
Very simple England game plan now: both Joe Root and Harry Brook have to score hundreds, big hundreds.
Wicket!
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Duckett c Henry b O’Rourke 9 An ugly and soft dismissal. Duckett takes on O’Rourke’s short ball, is diddled by the extra bounce abd plinks it off the toe straight to mid-on. All three left-handers gone. FOW 40/3
OVER 13: ENG 40/2 (Duckett 9 Root 19)
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Double change. Smith replaces Henry but, like the opening bowler, also has Blundell up to the stumps. Duckett fends a shorter ball uppishly through point for a single and Root eases four down to third man with a classic dab and then creams a drive through cover for four.
OVER 12: ENG 31/2 (Duckett 8 Root 11)
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O’Rourke replaces Jamieson and starts with a short one that Root slaps over point for four, deliberately hitting it up, then crouches deep in his crease to play tip and run to cover. Duckett works a single down to square leg with the angle and Root ends the over hopping back in fear of dragging the ball on when his defensive with an angled bat spun back off the crease and threatened the stumps. Fortunately the ball vaulted the stumps as it carromed back as Root flapped.
OVER 11: ENG 25/2 (Duckett 7 Root 6)
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Root clips Henry’s inducker off his toes for two to long leg two balls after being done by a nip-backer that would have been leg-before save for a scratch off the inside-edge. When Henry errs too full, Root drives him through to mid-on for a single.
OVER 10: ENG 22/2 (Duckett 7 Root 3)
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Duckett works a short ball from Jamieson off his hip for two. Ducket looked in fine nick in the first innings before being barbecued by Gay. Now he looks like he is fighting for his life.
Things are not going great for England at the Oval, and those they have chosen to leave out are going rather well. Ben Stokes has a 51-ball fifty for Durham against Northants, while Rehan Ahmed was recently dismissed for his maiden Division One hundred. With Surrey in crisis, Gus Atkinson is due to bat soon, having taken four fine wickets earlier on.
OVER 9: ENG 20/2 (Duckett 5 Root 3)
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A keeper standing up to the stumps to a seamer heightens the tension considerably. And with such a master of nip and control as Matt Henry, even bowling to Joe Root, every ball is ripe with potential and fear.
Jacob Bethell doesn’t get second innings runs this time, but he now has another curious wrinkle in his record: he averages 8 at home (albeit in just three Tests) and 51.66 away. England need a stabilising partnership now to avoid hurtling to defeat tonight.
OVER 8: ENG 20/2 (Duckett 5 Root 3)
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Another eventful over as NZ extract the maximum out of pitch, ball and conditions. Root came forward to one that reared up and had to jab it away hastily down to gully. Then he padded up outside off which may have backfired but proved his judgment was spot on even if we could do without the palpitations doing that causes. Finally he steals a sharp single to mid-on with a flick of the wrist and beats the throw.
A massive Test cricket bugbear of mine: the DRS timer only comes up on the big screen 5-10 seconds after the initial decision. So teams in effect have 20-25 seconds to decide, not 15. It’s far too generous.
NOT OUT
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It was comfortably missing the stumps. Because he played no stroke the impact wasn’t an issue. NZ burn one of their three reviews.
NZ review
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Root lbw b Jamieson Padded up. Was it outside the line? Would it have hit the stumps?
OVER 7: ENG 19/2 (Duckett 5 Root 2)
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Blundell comes up to the stumps for Matt Henry who is probing away aggressively with wobble seam. Root pushes a single to cover and that takes him to 14,000 Tests runs, only the second man in history to make as many. He is 1,929 behind Sachin Tendulkar now. Duckett keeps the last three out as the wobble-seam ploy threatens both edges.
OVER 6: ENG 18/2 (Duckett 5 Root 1)
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Jamieson finds Root’s edge as the captain pushes outside off to protect his off stump but his soft hands steer the ball down in front of second slip. Root takes a stride to off to work a single and get off the mark to midwicket before Duckett survives a big lbw shout and the review by the skin of his teeth.
NOT OUT
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Umpire’s call on clipping leg stump. It came back with swing and seam movement from a foot outside off to trap Duckett on the crease.
OVER 5: ENG 17/2 (Duckett 5 Root 0)
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Apologies for some stickiness in the scoreline for the second over. I’ll give the keyboard a clean and crack my knuckles once they’ve been rapped. Henry draws some looseness outside off from Duckett who has reverted to his old method after all the leaves at Lord’s. But when he is given a short ball to the body, he swivels and carts it on the pull through midwicket for four.
Root has three Test centuries at the Oval, curiously all against India, in 2014, 2018 and last year.
England 13-2, and no second innings runs for Jacob Bethell. Well, it was a perfect ball for a left-hander that got him - and, more generally, England do need a right-hander in their top three to disrupt the line of the new-ball bowlers.
OVER 4: ENG 13/2 (Duckett 1 Root 0)
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Gay was mortified to lose his wicket in that manner. There was an insouciance to the shot and no expectation at all of the consequence of playing it and his reaction was as if the world is a very unfair place today.
Enter Jacob Bethell, ‘second-innings Sid’ as Ian Chappell would call him. But not today. Jamieson serves up a jaffa that nips back and keeps a wee bit low, too.
Wicket!
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Bethell lbw b Jamieson 0 Two wickets in the over for Jamieson, going fuller and nipping one back into Bethell’s knee roll. Plumb… salmon and trout… got ’im… etc. FOW 13/2
Wicket!
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Gay c Ravindra b Jamieson 11 Out of the middle of his bat but clipped straight to midwicket where old butterfingers himself snares it, provoking wild congratulations, genuine and seemingly without sarcasm. FOW 13/1
Emilio Gay looks absolutely distraught, staring up to the skies in disbelief. As these things go, that’s a very soft dismissal. Perhaps he was relieved to be offered a fuller delivery after so much short stuff before. He’s impressed over his first two Tests, but could do with showing that he can go on a bit.
OVER 3: ENG 13/0 (Duckett 1 Gay 11)
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Henry tests Gay against the shorter ball but hangs his first attempt outside off and Gay punches it for four through cover point with style and authority. A proper biuncer at his armpit is negotiated well with Gay pivoting to cuff a single down to long leg. Duckett looks more at sea when lured on to the front foot to defend.
OVER 2: ENG 8/0 (Duckett 1 Gay 6)
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Jamieson shares the new ball and Gay pushes the first delivery from round the wicket to cover and calls for a single. Duckett sends him back wisely. New Zealand rag Gay about the first-innings run-out: ‘Not again Emilio!’
The next ball rears up from back of a length, takes the shoulder and loops between second slip and gully for four. Both Nasser and Butch are puzzled why both England and NZ have regularly gone for two slips and a leg slip in this match rather than three slips, particularly against the new ball.
Sky shows some of Ben Stokes’ strokes at Chester-le-Street, where he is 29 not out. He looks like a man batting without inhibition, playing his shots, compared with his hair-shirt performances of late.
OVER 1: ENG 2/0 (Duckett 1 Gay 1)
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Henry starts with a classic Duckett tempter outside off and the left-hander has a fiddle at it instinctively, playing and missing. The next three are straighter and after a couple of more judicious defensive strokes, Duckett gets off the mark with a back-foot punch through point for a single.
Gay leaves his first delivery but pokes at the next, nicking it low and turning anxiously to watch it die an inch or so before Blundell’s gloves as he swooped. They run a single. That last delivery was from over the wicket and was a peach, angling on to middle and off and nibbling away.
Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay walk to the crease
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Matt Henry will take the new ball.
There is no excuse for England not to bat for a long period of time on this pitch. A couple of balls have stayed low, but it’s a true batting surface. It’s an epic target, but there’s no reason they should go down in flames or any shame.
Scyld’s team for Trent Bridge
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For what looks like being the series decider, I’m opting at this stage for Duckett, Gay, Bethell, Root, Brook, Smith (wkt), Stokes (capt), Rehan, Atkinson, Archer and Tongue. A strong tail, and every type of bowler except for left-armers.
England need 463 to win
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A much better day with the ball for England, led by Archer’s fire and skill this morning and finished off by Fisher and Baker after lunch with New Zealand’s belief that they already had plenty an accomplice to the bowlers. Even Fisher’s nearest and dearest would concede that Mitchell, Jamieson and Smith were out swinging for the ropes but we have to praise Fisher for stopping them from doing so and taking their wickets as well.
Some gallows talk of whether England could lose tonight. They certainly could, given the inexperience of the batting line-up, New Zealand’s potent pace attack and a long tail, with Jofra Archer at eight. But that would be a very poor effort on a pitch that, even though it’s offering some uneven bounce, remains essentially very good for batting.
Wicket!
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Henry c Duckett b Baker 1 Another big swipe at the start of the over sends a high catch up to cover. Gay and Duckett, England’s openers, caught the last two out off successive balls. FOW 362 all out.
Wicket!
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Smith c Gay b Fisher 38 Fisher is armed with the mop today, picking up another wicket as New Zealand throw caution and orthodoxy to the wind and have a bash. Smith swipes across the line and sends a steepling chance off the top edge to square leg. FOW 362/9
OVER 86: NZ 360/8 (Smith 37 Henry 0)
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Smith clatters Baker’s short ball for four behind square with the pull then goes again and offers up a chance to the midwicket sweeper. Archer seems to see it late and sets off in from the rope too late, forcing him to pull out a dive to try to reach it and failing to do so. Baker keeps on with the strategy of bowling short over off-stump but isn’t extracting the bounce he would expect and hence the ball isn’t cramping the batsmen.
Dinesh Karthik follows up Mark Wood’s point from yesterday that Baker delivers the ball from about a yard behind the popping crease and also highlights a slight deceleration in his stride in the gather. To manage 89mph without being in top gear because of your action is pretty impressive and suggests there’s more to come if properly tuned up.
OVER 85: NZ 355/8 (Smith 32 Henry 0)
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Fisher beats Jamieson three balls in succession, the ball swinging away from the String Bean’s bing wafts. Make that four swings and misses, this time the ball vaults middle and off as Jamieson clears his front leg and has another yahoo at fresh air. Finally he connects and swipes a drive over the bowler’s head for four. But Fisher then castles him with the final ball of the over, breaking the composite middle stump, hollowed out to house a camera, in two.
Wicket!
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Jamieson b Fisher 6 Demolished middle stump after Jamieson, for the fifth time in the over, had a wild yahoo at the ball and missed it, leaving the gate wide open. FOW 355/8
OVER 84: NZ 351/7 (Smith 32 Jamieson 2)
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At the Riverside, Ben Stokes has come out to bat at No 5 for the Division Two leaders Durham with his side at 30 for three against second-placed Northants.
Baker, too, is swinging the new ball which is hampering Smith’s ability to slog him, which seems his firm intention. After a woolly waft outside off he winds his neck in to leave and defend and Baker can put a maiden in the book, only his fourth in 33 overs in the match.
OVER 83: NZ 351/7 (Smith 32 Jamieson 2)
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Fisher continues with the old ball and the keeper up to the stumps. He dismisses Mitchell with his third delivery as Mitchell tried to accelerate to a sixth Test century and fourth in England, his head tilting too far over to off to execute that outrageous shot. England take the new ball to attack Jamieson and Fisher swings it immediately, making the ball tail away from the middle of the tall right-hander’s bat. Jamieson gets off the mark by slicing a drive with an open face through point for two.
Baker will share tthe new ball.
Wicket!
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Mitchell b Fisher 68 The right-hander sacrifices his wicket in pursuit of quick runs, dropping to one knee to scoop Fisher, he misjudges the line and loses the top of off stump. FOW 349/7
OVER 82: NZ 349/6 (Smith 32 Mitchell 68)
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Smith drives to mid-off who is stationed in an Arthur and Martha position, neither long-off nor normal mid-off, for a single. He uses his feet to do the same again after Mitchell had flicked a single off his pads and Mitchell completes the Bethell over with a square cut for one to farm the strike.
The players are back out
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Good afternoon. Still no new ball as Jacob Bethell will start the second session.
If you have Sky
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I would commend this Test’s episode of the Film Room to you. It’s joyful and has Phil Tufnell on top form.
To declare or not to declare?
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That is all from me but before I hand you over to the very capable hands of Rob Bagchi for the rest of the day, here is Nick Hoult on what New Zealand’s plans this afternoon might look like:
The question is when will New Zealand declare? Suspect Mitchell will play shots to try and get to his hundred before they pull out. England will then face a session and a half today and all day tomorrow. Can they bat for a draw for the first time under McCullum? It would really lift everyone if they could pull off a great escape. I suspect they will go down in a blaze of shots, they do not have the defences or patience to play a longer game.
Lunch on day four: New Zealand 345/6
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I am not surprised that England will not take the new ball one over before the lunch break.
Fisher drops short and Smith swivels on the pull shot, depositing it for four behind square.
New Zealand go into lunch at 345/6, a mere 445 runs ahead with five sessions in the game remaining. England have taken three wickets in that session but New Zealand are in such a commanding position in this game.
OVER 80: NZ 340/6 (Smith 25 Mitchell 66)
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That is a quite sensational shot from Smith. He quite nonchalantly dances down the wicket a few steps and clips down the ground for six in the long-on direction. That was all timing. Smith follows that up with a crisply-hit sweep for a flat, one-bounce four. No thought of just purely blocking out for lunch!
The new ball is available but will England take it on the stroke of lunch?
OVER 79: NZ 329/6 (Smith 14 Mitchell 66)
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Matthew Fisher has had to wait nearly the entire morning session to come and is brought into the attack with 10 minutes remaining of the session. Rew is up to the stumps off Fisher to keep Mitchell in his crease. Then, halfway through the over, Rew goes back. Then Rew comes back to the stumps.
Maiden over from Fisher and he should get one more from that end before lunch.
OVER 78: NZ 329/6 (Smith 14 Mitchell 66)
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Jacob Bethell is coming on at the Vauxhall End. How will New Zealand approach? Will they try and go after spin? Bethell starts with a maiden as Smith shows caution for now.
OVER 77: NZ 329/6 (Smith 14 Mitchell 66)
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Like Baker was at the start of the last over, Tongue is too full and wide. Mitchell, now into the 60s, tucks into that and drives through cover for four.
The new ball is now just three overs away but lunch may come before that or England will leave it until after that.
Daryl Mitchell is punchier than your traditional NZ number five. Yes he plays IPL but he is also bigger and stronger than most Kiwi batsmen, and he was brought up in Perth - so more see ball, hit ball. Mitchell’s aggression has taken the game away from England after the Nicholls-Ravindra stand. A foray or two down the pitch early on signals his intent. Which should all be the cue for England to get him out before lunch…?
OVER 76: NZ 325/6 (Smith 14 Mitchell 62)
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Baker is too full and wide but that is a sublime shot from Smith, crashing a drive through the covers, with the ball racing to the boundary. Baker has not looked quite as good in the second innings compared to the first and that is the challenge of Test cricket.
Smith then gets one on his pads that he flicks through mid-wicket for a couple.
OVER 75: NZ 319/6 (Smith 8 Mitchell 62)
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Tongue, following his initial spell at the Vauxhall End, has taken a bit of a break and now returns at the Pavilion End. Archer has bowled superbly this morning but it is sensible to take him off. Tongue returns with a probing maiden over.
OVER 74: NZ 319/6 (Smith 8 Mitchell 62)
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Three runs come from the over and New Zealand lead by 419 runs.
OVER 73: NZ 316/6 (Smith 7 Mitchell 60)
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Archer has bowled brilliantly this morning but you cannot help but think about whether he has bowled too many overs this morning? He bowled five up front, had one over off and has been back on for a few more overs. You cannot help but worry about him getting injured.
OVER 72: NZ 314/6 (Smith 6 Mitchell 59)
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Root’s spell lasted one over and cost 12 runs; what was the point? Baker is on, this time from the Vauxhall End, and is welcomed back into the attack by a boundary. Despite a man out at deep square leg, Smith pulls away in front of square for four.
OVER 71: NZ 309/6 (Smith 1 Mitchell 59)
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Nathan Smith joins Mitchell in the middle and this will be a test for the new batsman with Archer charging in. Smith is off the mark third ball with a single.
Wicket
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Phillips c Bethell b Archer 3 A fantastic catch in the gully by Bethell. Considering some of the catches England have dropped, they seem to be taking some hard ones. Phillips flashes at a drive outside off his stump and the ball flies at some speed to Bethell, who takes the grab. Archer has looked good this morning. FOW 307/6
OVER 70: NZ 307/5 (Phillips 3 Mitchell 59)
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We are going to see some spin for the first time today as stand-in captain Root brings himself on. Interestingly Root is on before Fisher.
Mitchell brings out the reverse sweep and the ball races away down to third man for four. That boundary bings up his fifty off 68 balls.
Root then drops far too short and that is too easy for Mitchell, who cuts away for four to bring up New Zealand’s 300 and their lead goes beyond 400. The pressure that had been built by Tongue and Archer has just been released.
Mitchell plays his second reverse sweep of the over and gets his third boundary of the over. Brook tried his best at slip to read it but could not prevent it.
OVER 69: NZ 295/5 (Phillips 3 Mitchell 47)
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So this is interesting; Baker had replaced Archer at the Pavilion End but the latter is back on after just one over from the former. Did that Blundell wicket play a part in that decision?
Mitchell tries to get out of the way of an Archer bouncer but the ball comes off the glove. It loops into the air but lands just short of Root running in from leg slip. A slice of fortune for Mitchell.
Mitchell then decides to go for a risky single into the legside and Duckett hits the stumps at the striker’s end but Phillips had made his ground. Phillips is very quick between the wickets.
Archer finishes the over with a fine bouncer to Phillips, who sways out of the way. We saw a great tussle between this pair in the first innings which was box-office to watch.
Time for drinks, with New Zealand 395 runs ahead.
OVER 68: NZ 293/5 (Phillips 2 Mitchell 46)
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First-innings centurion Glenn Phillips is in at number seven and is off the mark third ball with a couple through square leg.
Wicket
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Blundell c Rew b Tongue 17 Boy are Root and England lucky there! A leg slip has been in place a fair bit in this Test match from England and Blundell flicks it straight at Root at leg slip. That is far from the end of the story though as Root spills the chance. Luckily for England’s stand-in captain, Rew is on hand to gather the rebound and that is in spite of Root semi-colliding with him. That will do Rew’s confidence some good. Not quite Andrew Strauss and Geraint Jones in the 2005 Ashes but good reactions from Rew. Tongue has also deserved that wicket this morning. FOW 290/5
Had England bowled on the second morning as they have on the fourth morning, this Test would still be in the balance. As it is NZ will bat till an hour after lunch? 500 to win? England will do well to lose by fewer than 100 runs? Then an enthralling series decider at Trent Bridge, featuring an England attack of Archer, Atkinson, Stokes and Tongue, plus a spinner?
Good presence of mind from James Rew there, to nip and pick up Root’s parry. The ball was flying. Root was delighted for Rew there, knowing that he is not having the easiest debut. The key thing is blocking out the errors. Good start.
OVER 67: NZ 290/4 (Blundell 16 Mitchell 46)
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The first change of the morning sees Sonny Baker come on at the Pavilion End. How will his body be feeling on day four of his maiden Test?
The over ends with Mitchell guiding one between the one slip and gully for four. It bounced a bit more than Mitchell expected but he did well to get on top of the bounce and guide it down.
OVER 66: NZ 284/4 (Blundell 15 Mitchell 41)
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Just two runs come from the over and Tongue might be coming to the end of a probing spell this morning.
OVER 65: NZ 282/4 (Blundell 14 Mitchell 40)
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Archer bangs one in very short and the ball just keeps rising, over Rew’s head for four byes. Across the two New Zealand innings, England have given away far too many extras.
This New Zealand pair have scored some runs together on tours of England and they continue building New Zealand’s lead, which is approaching 400 runs.
OVER 64: NZ 274/4 (Blundell 12 Mitchell 38)
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Blundell does really well to dig out an inswinging yorker from Tongue, who continues to test Blundell out for the rest of the over with plenty of balls coming back into the right-hander.
OVER 63: NZ 273/4 (Blundell 12 Mitchell 37)
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This is a bit of a Catch-22 for England; the ball is 62 overs old and is still doing something but with England being not far off 400 runs behind they probably do not want to see the ball moving around too much.
Archer strays onto the pads and Blundell flicks away fine for four. Archer wants another man put out towards the boundary but Root does not agree and keeps the field in place. Good from Root, not just changing the field because of one bad ball, especially considering how well Archer has bowled this morning.
OVER 62: NZ 269/4 (Blundell 8 Mitchell 37)
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Archer and Tongue have set the tone with the ball for England this morning and could so easily have more than the wicket they have. Mitchell is fortunate not to suffer the same fate he did in the first innings. He tries to pull Tongue away but it comes off the splice off the bat and loops in the air but it lands short of Cox.
A probing maiden over from Tongue.
OVER 61: NZ 269/4 (Blundell 8 Mitchell 37)
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Archer has looked good this morning and once again finds the outside edge. However, it falls short of Root at first slip.
New Zealand’s lead is now up to 369.
OVER 60: NZ 267/4 (Blundell 6 Mitchell 37)
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Blundell gets a couple with a flick off his hips through square leg before ending the over with a three, courtesy of an uppish cover drive.
OVER 59: NZ 262/4 (Blundell 1 Mitchell 37)
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Tom Blundell is the new man and gets off the mark with a risky single into the legside. Blundell set off quickly but Mitchell was not so convinced. Mitchell was slow to react and probably should be run out but Duckett misses the stumps at the striker’s end. England miss far too many of those types of opportunities.
In Cardiff, a third wicket for Gus Atkinson, who flattens centurion Chris Cooke’s off stump. He’s looked great and will be straight back in the England side on Thursday.
Wicket
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Nicholls c Brook b Archer 121 Brook dropped a catch off the first ball of Archer’s first over but this time makes no mistake from the first ball of Archer’s second over of the morning. Archer, from over the wicket, sends it across Nicholls and the ball takes the outside edge, with Brook taking a fairly routine catch at second slip. Archer deserves that wicket for the way he has started this morning. It brings to an end a fine innings from Nicholls, who would not have played in this game if Kane Williamson had not unexpectedly retired. FOW 261/4
Jofra Archer deserves that wicket after ratcheting up his pace this morning and having Daryl Mitchell dropped first ball of the day. This has been an impressive Test return.
What could England chase? It’s an excellent pitch to bat on so, say, 400 might just be plausible, if everything fell in their favour. Realistically, it would take remarkable batting for England to avoid defeat. With Archer at 8, England have quite a long tail, too.
OVER 58: NZ 261/3 (Nicholls 121 Mitchell 37)
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Josh Tongue starts from the Vauxhall End and begins with a beauty that beats Nicholls on the inside edge. A couple of balls later, Tongue bowls another fantastic inswinger that Nicholls leaves and it just evades the off stump. That is in the category of a good leave but only just. As we all know, there are only two types of leave.
Tongue then strikes Nicholls on the glove and it has clearly hurt as the New Zealand batsman has summoned the team physio.
It is good to see England start with their two best bowlers this morning, rather than being too clever. But that drop is very dispiriting - a little lax from Brook at the start of the day?
OVER 57: NZ 260/3 (Nicholls 120 Mitchell 37)
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Jofra Archer will send down the first over of the morning from the Pavilion End. He starts with a beauty and finds the outside edge of Mitchell with the first ball of the day. Brook is the only slip in place and should take the catch but spills it. Not only that but the ball races away for four. Brook went with just one hand but should have gone with two. That is a poor drop. England do not learn from their mistakes do they? You want to set the tone early, especially when you are behind the game, and that is not how you want to begin the day, especially after a number of drops yesterday.
A few balls later, another slip is put in but that horse has already bolted.
Later in the over, Archer strikes Mitchell on the pads but it was going down leg. Mitchell is quick between the wickets and comes back for two. England’s fielding already this morning is leaving a lot to be desired.
Harry Brook hasn’t fielded as the first of several slips has he? If he had, he would have gone for that chance to his right with both hands. You can’t make it up as you go along in Test cricket.
Ready for action
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New Zealand are in such a strong position as they resume on 252/3, 352 runs ahead. Centurion Henry Nicholls resumes on 119 not out and is joined out in the middle by Daryl Mitchell on 32.
Sky Sports crew on England’s absent captain
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Ben Stokes is up in Durham this week playing for his county but his name unsurprisingly is always being mentioned:
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 20, 2026"England are a better side with Ben Stokes in it"
Will England be able to replace Ben Stokes when he retires from cricket? 💭 pic.twitter.com/q1mLDY7ZMc
Good bowling conditions?
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There is plenty of cloud cover, which will suit the bowlers, but the problem for England is that New Zealand are more than 350 runs ahead with seven first-innings wickets in hands.
Fit for the third Test?
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Ollie Robinson, who made an impressive return to the England Test side after over two years out of the team, was not fit to play in this Test but he has bowling this morning so could be set to return to the XI for the third Test at Trent Bridge next week.
Good practice for a day of cricket!
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I sound like a stuck record and we have been talking about playing football before a day’s play so many times. It is not just England though, every country does it! The only thing that could probably make this Test any worse would be an injury playing football! Do you reckon in the early hours of Monday morning that Brendon McCullum will be getting up at 2am to watch New Zealand play Egypt?
Any chance of an incredible England fightback?
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There have been some amazing run chases down the years from England in the Bazball era but this side is not in their Bazball prime or peak. Even if England skittle New Zealand this morning, they are going to be chasing over 400, probably a lot more than that. Still some hope though? Maybe not.
Not much optimism from Will this morning
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I do not blame him though!
Cloudy and not as warm at the Oval. A session or two of toil coming up for England.
Sky Sports crew on James Rew
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Are we being too harsh on the debutant or has the criticism been fair? His dismissal in England’s first innings came in for some criticism and rightly so whilst a couple of drops yesterday were very costly. His wicketkeeping probably came into even sharper focus because of the work of New Zealand keeper Tom Blundell, especially up to the stumps. Rew will likely play plenty of times for England in the future but you would imagine he will drop out for the third Test when Jamie Smith returns.
‘Rew has a shocker as brutality of Test cricket rocks rookies’
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England’s side for the Oval Test is staggeringly callow. Joe Root, the captain, came in with 164 caps, and the other 10 combined for 117. No one else has 45 caps. Josh Tongue is playing his 11th Test, and is the fifth-most experienced player. Since the last Test, they have lost the very core of the team: captain, side-balancing all-rounder, both opening bowlers and wicketkeeper.
Most remarkable is the rookie count. For the first time since 2017, England fielded three debutants. On top of that, two others are playing just their second Tests. Emilio Gay’s first came at Lord’s a fortnight ago, in an unusual game defined by a sporty pitch. Matthew Fisher has not come especially close to playing again since a surprise debut in Barbados more than four years ago. It is almost a scratch team.
In one way or another, each of the five newbies has been given a rude awakening on the rigours of Test cricket, and the step up they face.
If you want to put yourself through this...
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Although if you are a New Zealand fan you will absolutely love watching the highlights from day three:
Inexperience costly?
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England named three debutants (Sonny Baker, Jordan Cox and James Rew) in this Test and both Emilio Gay and Matthew Fisher had just one Test cap to their names before this game. It is worth bearing in mind that had the whole Stokes/Atkinson situation never happened, Ollie Robinson not been injured and Jamie Smith’s partner not given birth on the eve of the game, there would not have been that much inexperience.
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 20, 2026"It's a hugely inexperienced team and it's shown to be honest."
Stuart Broad gives his thoughts on the balance of the England side, with key players out of the team 📝 pic.twitter.com/nddqunFqDn
England on the rocks
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New Zealand have taken a firm grip of this second Test at The Oval as they closed day three on 252/3, 352 runs ahead after what was a chastening day three for England. After England were bowled out for 291 towards the end of the morning session on day three, 100 runs behind on first innings, New Zealand pressed home their advantage, piling on the runs to come into day four in a commanding position.
Henry Nicholls, returning to the New Zealand Test side for the first time since last year following Kane Williamson’s shock retirement between the first and second Tests, made his 11th Test ton as England toiled in the field. His 161-run partnership with Rachin Ravindra led New Zealand to a dominant day.
“It is obviously a great day, personally, but also from the team’s perspective; to bowl them out with a lead and then be where we are now, it is exactly what we wanted,” Nicholls said.
“It was a bit of a shock to everyone [Kane Williamson retiring]. I have been lucky enough to play a lot of my Test career with Kane, and I certainly knew that I was not going to be able to replace such an incredible player. I have just really enjoyed being back in the team. You want to contribute. It was fun the partnership with Rachin and then against with Daryl [Mitchell] at the end there.”
It was a tough day in the field as England dropped a number of chances, with James Rew’s wicketkeeping in particular coming under scrutiny as the debutant shelled two chances. Rew put down Ravindra when he had only seven and then went on to make 76, and also spurned an opportunity when centurion Nicholls was on just 42.
Centurion Nicholls will resume on 119 and will have Daryl Mitchell (32 not out) for company as New Zealand press for a victory that would bring the series level at 1-1 going into the final Test at Trent Bridge next week. If the series is level going into next week, which looks increasingly likely, there will be even more discussion surrounding whether Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson, who were in the wickets for their counties yesterday, will return for what could be a series decider in Nottingham, which looks increasingly likely. Play on day four from The Oval gets under way at 11am.