New Zealand had to beat England at The Oval. Not just to square their series, but because England made itself an easier picking.
To the team that won at Lord’s, England made an off-the-wall five changes, four of them enforced by nightclub antics, injury and paternity. Three players debuted, two others had one cap each, and Joe Root stepped up as the stopgap captain. Root had more than half the team’s caps and was suddenly the leading active wicket-taker.
England did everything but gift a rare seventh win to New Zealand in 95 years on home turf and the Black Caps went and grabbed it in style. It came to fruition on Sunday in the first 48 minutes of the fifth and final day when fast bowler Matt Henry cleaned up the last five wickets in 31 balls of a metronomic masterclass. England collapsed from 182-5 overnight to all out for 209 and New Zealand won by 253 runs, its largest victory in England by runs. That set up a series decider in Nottingham starting Thursday.
“I didn’t expect it to unfold like that today but probably saved a hot day in the field,” Henry said after leading New Zealand off the field, match ball raised high. His 6-29 beside 5-80 in the first innings gave him 11-109, best-ever figures by a New Zealand bowler against England and his first 10-wicket match haul in 35 tests. He completed a magnificent team effort. Glenn Phillips withstood body blows from a venomous Jofra Archer on the first evening then reached his maiden test hundred – and the series’ first century – with Kyle Jamieson the next morning while Archer rested from the previous night’s exertions.
“That spell from Jofra, we wanted to take that wicket that night,” Root said. “Jofra was on a roll, full of confidence, bowling a great pace. You break the game open there and it’s a very different concept. Phillips played brilliantly, same with (Henry) Nicholls in the second innings.” Henry took out Root and Harry Brook in the span of three deliveries to help secure a 100-run lead on the first innings. No team had overcome a bigger deficit at The Oval in 124 years. Nicholls, tasked with filling the shoes of the retired Kane Williamson, added his hundred in the second innings in a 161-run partnership with Rachin Ravindra that batted England out of the game. The phenomenal 463 target was 45 runs above the most successful fourth-innings chase in test history.
Jamieson undermined England hopes immediately and Henry polished off the win on Sunday starting with Root. England’s last glimmer of hope added only two runs from overnight and was lbw between bat and pad on 77. “It wasn’t going to be easy on that surface and the pace going out of it but the way the bowlers were able to operate, hitting the top of off, bit of old-school cricket,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said. England was already thinking of Trent Bridge before play on Sunday, by withdrawing regular skipper Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson from their county sides so they’re ready for the third test. Both were dropped for breaking England’s midnight curfew while celebrating the Lord’s win.
Stokes warmed up with 95 on Saturday and Atkinson took four wickets. “Ben will be back,” coach Brendon McCullum said at The Oval. “He’ll be back and he’ll be captain.” The availability of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith after the Tuesday birth of his second child may also be key. His replacement, debutant James Rew, conceded the most byes by an England keeper in 12 years. Ollie Robinson, who took seven wickets at Lord’s, missed The Oval because of knee soreness, the third straight test in which he’s suffered an injury. Root captained England for the first time since 2022, and was the only survivor from that side. He said he enjoyed leading again through an “unsettling” buildup; he became the second man to 14,000 test runs, though his record as test captain fell to 27-27.
“In terms of depth and exposure, normally when guys come in it’s one at a time and they’re helped through by seniority and guys around them,” Root said. “This week’s been quite different with the circumstances. Off the back of that, all you can really ask of players is to come in and give everything and they definitely did that.”