Key events
Andy Bull
It’s increasingly hard to say what’s going on behind those shades. The man’s the Anna Wintour of the wicket. That eyewear makes it impossible to know what he’s thinking. It’s been nine days since Ben Stokes was caught breaking the England team curfew at a nightclub on the Kings Road, and still no one really knows what’s going on, or exactly what’s gone wrong. The Cricket Regulator is investigating, but it is slower than molasses in January. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason why the ECB’s own report is dragging on so long. The one clear point is that neither McCullum, nor his boss, Rob Key, wanted to offer Stokes their backing as captain.
Ali Martin
After nine turbulent days since the crapshoot at Lord’s came some welcome and familiar Test match rhythms south of the river. Not that it was entirely familiar, given the churn of England players that was triggered, in part, by that late night for Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson at the Rex Rooms in Chelsea.
Meanwhile
Sonny Baker’s reaction
It was awesome, just a great experience all round. I’m so, so happy to have got my first one. [Throaty cackle] You could probably tell from the celebration!
[On receiving his cap from Steve Finn] I was trying to not to get too emotional in front of the lads. For a little while after that I just wanted to give my mum and dad a hug and stuff – it properly got me.
[On his first wicket] Was I pleased? I’m not sure you can tell!
It was hard work today, good graft. We’re looking forward to coming back tomorrow and getting stuck in.
Stumps
77th over: New Zealand 291-7 (Phillips 49, Jamieson 6) A quiet end to an intriguing day at The Oval. Don’t ask me who’s on top, because I’ve no idea, but I do know New Zealand will be frustrated that so many batters were dismissed for nothing scores.
England’s makeshift attack did well on a pretty flat pitch, with everybody taking at least one wicket. The highlight of the day – a ferocious spell from Jofra Archer that was bravely survived by Glenn Phillips – won’t show on the scorecard.
76th over: New Zealand 290-7 (Phillips 48, Jamieson 6) No sign of England letting this drift until the close. With seven minutes’ play remaining, Josh Tongue returns to bowl some short stuff. Kyle Jamieson gets lucky when a lusty yahoo lands between two fielders at cow corner, but then he backs away to wave a terrific shot to the cover boundary. He’s a dangerous customer down the order, as England saw at Lord’s.
Time for one more over before the close. Jacob Bethell has changed ends and will bowl it.
75th over: New Zealand 284-7 (Phillips 48, Jamieson 0) Blimey, Jofra is going again. This is his eighth over, almost as many as he bowled across his first three spells of the day (11).
Phillips plays a nifty uppercut that flies down the leg side for four runs. Archer responds by sitting him down one last time. He has bowled some utterly horrible bouncers: perfect length, tight line and then sharp seam movement to follow Phillips.
Archer ends the over, and surely the spell, with a lifter that hits Phillips on the glove. He wrings his hand in pain and then calls for the physio.
Phillips has played with immense courage tonight. It’s been an innings of two halves: 40 from the first 39 balls, 8 from the next 34. He started his innings by timing high-class boundaries all over the gaff, then knuckled down to withstand a ferocious spell from Archer.
74th over: New Zealand 280-7 (Phillips 44, Jamieson 0) Jacob Bethell has figures of 4-1-7-2. I’m sure he would agree that the figures flatter him ever so easily; I also suspect he couldn’t care less, and nor should he.
WICKET! New Zealand 280-7 (Smith c Cox b Bethell 4)
Jacob Bethell laughs sheepishly after taking a vaguely disgusting wicket. Smith tried to lap a full toss but got a big top edge that looped over his shoulder. Jordan Cox ran back towards fine leg to take a well-judged catch.
73rd over: New Zealand 278-6 (Phillips 44, Smith 2) With the new batter Nathan Smith on strike, England decide to give Archer one more over. He strains a bit too hard with a bouncer that flies down the leg side for five wides. England have conceded a whopping 44 extras today.
In hindsight that was one over too many for Archer, but he bowled a scintillating spell of 7-2-18-0.
71st over: New Zealand 272-6 (Phillips 44, Smith 1) Gay wears one at short leg when Smith pulls a long hop from Bethell straight at him. Smith gets off the mark from his 13th delivery by cutting a single.
You probably know this but play will go on until 7pm because of the delayed start and England’s relaxed over-rate.
70th over: New Zealand 271-6 (Phillips 44, Smith 0) After 20 balls without a run, Phillips times Archer behind square on the off side for four. He’s punished for his impertinence by another nasty short ball that hits him near the left shoulder blade.
Phillips survives the rest of the over. He’s showing immense courage and may have seen Archer off for today.
“I know it’s been said before, but ye gods I love Test cricket,” writes Phil Sawyer. “You think a game is meandering along a bit and then suddenly get a battle like Archer v Phillips. The sunglasses appear to have wound Jofra up. Nothing you can do in a spell like this but try to survive, and Phillips is handling it admirably so far. Cracking stuff. Also thanks to Nass, I’m going to have to revisit THAT spell from Devon Malcolm later.”
Sod that, watch the highlights of the whole game – it’s one of the most exhilarating/demented Tests ever played.
70th over: New Zealand 267-6 (Phillips 40, Smith 0) A maiden from Bethell to Smith, which means Archer will get to have another crack at Phillips. This might be his last over of the day.
69th over: New Zealand 267-6 (Phillips 40, Smith 0) Phillips goes down again, this time on his front, after evading another beautifully directed bouncer. Phillips went down in slow motion and then bounced to his feet with a smile on his face.
A fuller ball from Archer swings past leg stump for four byes, so her returns to the short stuff and sits Phillips down again. Phillips is still lying on his back when he puts his thumb up to acknowledge Archer’s excellence. Lovely stuff.
68th over: New Zealand 263-6 (Phillips 40, Smith 0) Bethell has played a part in three of the six wickets to fall: two catches, one a blinder, and now a wicket.
England go up for LBW when the new batter Smith pushes around an arm ball. Missing leg.
WICKET! New Zealand 263-6 (Blundell c Root b Bethell 51)
Jacob Bethell comes on to bowl the first over of spin in this series. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s taken a wicket with his fourth ball. Blundell, who had just pulled a long hop for four to reach his fifty, walloped a slog-sweep towards midwicket and was superbly caught by the leaping Joe Root.
That’s such a bonus for England, and another waste of a New Zealand wicket. Five of the six batters dismissed today have made scores between 24 and 51.
67th over: New Zealand 259-5 (Blundell 47, Phillips 40) Phillips fishes at a good ball from Archer and is beaten. England appealed for caught behind and considered a review before rightly deciding against it.
Phillips calls for his sunglasses. When play resumes, Archer promptly knocks him off his feet with a cracking bouncer that pins him just below the right shoulder. Perfect comic timing.
Jofra isn’t laughing when an appeal for a catch down the leg side is turned down – and he can’t review it because the umpire is then informed that it was a no-ball. I suspect Phillips gloved that.
A terrific over from Archer, seriously hostile.
[Edit: there’s nothing on UltraEdge for that caught-behind appeal, which is odd because I’m sure the ball changed direction. Not that it matters as it was a no-ball.]
66th over: New Zealand 258-5 (Blundell 47, Phillips 40) With Rew up to the stumps, an inswinger from Fisher goes for four byes down the leg side. England are looking weary.
65th over: New Zealand 252-5 (Blundell 45, Phillips 40) Archer sits Phillips on his backside with another nasty bouncer that was homing on Phillips’ neck until he got out of the way.
For the first time today, England have set a field for short-pitched bowling. Lateri n the over Blundell tries to pull, is too early on the shot and gets a single off the back of the bat.
64th over: New Zealand 247-5 (Blundell 43, Phillips 40) Fisher continues after drinks – as does Phillips, who bashes his seventh boundary to move into the forties.
Simon Burnton
There was a moment, late on the first day at Lord’s, of the sort that makes captaincy instantly worthwhile: Ben Stokes chose to bring Emilio Gay in at short leg, Kane Williamson immediately edged the ball into his pad and thence into the air, and without even looking to see what happened next Ollie Robinson sprinted into his captain’s embrace. It is a high-pressure role, perhaps at times unbearably so, but it is not without its rewards.
The first day of the second Test had little in common, not least because the England teamsheet had in the intervening period been put through a shredder. The sun shone, the pitch behaved, and as an occasion it felt – perhaps appropriately given the kind of mess England have made a habit of getting themselves into of late – a great deal more sober.
At its heart, Joe Root, back at the site of his last home Test as England’s full-time captain against India nearly five years ago. That was precisely the halfway point of the run of one win in 17 games, eight before that and eight after, during which his team and his appetite for leading it unravelled. As he said when asked on Tuesday about his first experience of captaincy: “I ended up being so consumed with everything I wasn’t the person I wanted to be.” And here he was again, being consumed with everything.
63rd over: New Zealand 243-5 (Blundell 43, Phillips 36) Phillips does superbly to avoid a horrible bouncer from Archer that follows him as he starts to back away. That could easily have smacked him on the helmet.
A fuller inducker to Blundell runs away for four leg-byes, after which the players take drinks.
At 107-4 and 188-5 it was England’s day; by 7pm it might be New Zealand’s.
62nd over: New Zealand 238-5 (Blundell 43, Phillips 36)
61st over: New Zealand 232-5 (Blundell 40, Phillips 35) Archer is back on the field and is coming into the attack. An accurate, wicket-to-wicket over has the effect of slowing down Phillips.
60th over: New Zealand 232-5 (Blundell 40, Phillips 33) England go up for LBW when Fisher nips one back to hit Phillips onthe pad. A nice bit of bowling but it looked too high, and Fisher signals as much to his captain Root.
No chance of England risking their last review, although it was a bit closer than I realised. The replay suggested it was umpire’s call on height.
A rare false stroke from Phillips, who puts it to the back of his mind and waves the next delivery through backward point for four. The timing of his attacking strokes has been exquisite.
59th over: New Zealand 227-5 (Blundell 40, Phillips 28) Blundell opens the face to glide Baker between third slip and gully for four. A lovely shot, but Baker looks tired and has started to go for a few runs: 21 from his first nine overs, 42 from the last six.
58th over: New Zealand 222-5 (Blundell 35, Phillips 28) Matthew Fisher returns in place of Tongue. He’s the closest England have to a workhorse in this attack, and there are still 100 minutes of work to be done tonight.
Blundell scrambles to make his ground after being sent back by Phillips, though Bethell’s throw was off target anyway. A maiden from Fisher, his fifth of the day.
57th over: New Zealand 222-5 (Blundell 35, Phillips 27) Phillips hammers a cut for four off Baker. Since tea there have been 56 runs in eight overs.
England’s bowlers look a bit weary, and it doesn’t help that Jofra Archer has just left the field. Apparently he slipped a couple of minutes ago so it’s presumably related to that.
56th over: New Zealand 216-5 (Blundell 35, Phillips 22) Rew was the least excited of the England fielders, which suggests he knew – or least suspected – the ball had hit the turf before he was able to flip his hand around.
Glenn Phillips, meanwhile, is batting like Bradman. Two more beautifully timed shots, the first for four and the second for three, take him to 22 from 13 balls.
Umpire review! Blundell not out 34
James Rew seems to have taken a brilliant low catch down the leg side to dismiss Tom Blundell, but it’s checked by the third umpire and one replay shows clearly that the ball brushed the ground.
55th over: New Zealand 208-5 (Blundell 34, Phillips 15) Despite taking that wicket, Baker is still struggling for rhythm. He swings four byes down the leg side before Phillips nails him for back-to-back boundaries through extra cover. Phillips looks in seriously good touch and has sped to 15 from 10 balls.
54th over: New Zealand 196-5 (Blundell 34, Phillips 7) Glenn Phillips continues where he left off at Lord’s by timing Tongue behind square for four to get off the mark. Lovely shot, that.
53rd over: New Zealand 189-5 (Blundell 34, Phillips 0) Mitchell was walking towards Baker and was beaten for pace. It’s a really impressive strike from Baker at a time when his mind could have been elsewhere.
Time will tell whether Baker is as good – or as quick – as Mark Wood, but he’s a similarly effervescent character who England supporters are going to love. I don’t know whether he has an imaginary horse though.
WICKET! New Zealand 184-5 (Mitchell c Gay b Baker 41)
Baker puts some sawdust down at the start the over, which confirms he is struggling from this end. That’s far from ideal for a debutant, but Baker tells adversity to get stuffed and takes a vital wicket! Mitchell clothed a pull straight to midwicket, where Emilio Gay swooped to take a comfortable catch.
Mitchell and Blundell have added 77 in this innings. A century partnership would their fifth against England, equalling the Test record. They would also be in very good company: Greenidge and Haynes, Slater and Taylor, Boon and Border, Boon and Mark Waugh, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh.
And some people have the effrontery to say the 1990s was a great time to be alive.
52nd over: New Zealand 184-4 (Mitchell 41, Blundell 33) Blundell tries to leave Tongue and somehow gets four through backward point. He clips the next ball through midwicket for another boundary.
Tongue almost gets his rewenge with a wide tempter off the last ball. Blundell goes for a big drive and misses.
51st over: New Zealand 176-4 (Mitchell 41, Blundell 25) Baker replaces Archer after tea. He’s steered for four by Mitchell, then pulled for another. The suggestion is that he’s less comfortable at this end, and at the end of the over he has a chat on the boundary with the bowling coach Tim Southee.
Inbetween those boundaries, Baker beat Mitchell and started smiling – not in a smug way, just because he’s having the time of his life. “He’s the happiest fast bowler on the planet,” said Nasser Hussain on commentary, to which a deadpan Mark Butcher replied: “You wouldn’t have got on with him at all.”
50th over: New Zealand 168-4 (Mitchell 33, Blundell 25) Josh Tongue replaces Harry Brook after tea, starting with a quiet over to Blundell. Joe Root changes the field after one ball, prompting Nasser Hussain to make the same point as Tim in the 47th over. “He may have just tinkered too much,” says Nasser. “You don’t have to get funky here.”
Tea
49th over: New Zealand 166-4 (Mitchell 33, Blundell 23) Archer has a big appeal for LBW turned down when Mitchell pads up to an inducker. England have wasted two reviews, which means they daren’t risk a review. No matter: it would have bounced over the stumps.
A maiden from Archer brings an interesting session to an end: 24 overs, 91 runs and two wickets, one apiece for Josh Tongue and Sonny Baker.
When Baker struck New Zealand were 107 for 4, but the old (solicitor’s) firm of Mitchell and Blundell batted with authority and judgement in an unbroken partnership of 59.
48th over: New Zealand 166-4 (Mitchell 33, Blundell 23) Brook does swing the ball, so his introduction is not without logic. Mitchell turns an inswinger not far short of Gay at leg slip; in fact he’s one of two leg slips for exactly that stroke.
Time for one more over before tea.
47th over: New Zealand 164-4 (Mitchell 33, Blundell 21) “I’m at The Oval, wondering if I’m the first person ever to feel that Root is being too funky with his fields,” writes your friend and mine, Tim de Lisle. “He seems to be setting half the field for the pitch we’ve got (gullies and leg slips, waiting for the nicks from the lifters) and the other half for a flat track in Rawalpindi (silly mid-off and two silly mid-ons). Wondering if this makes more sense to you.”
Not really, though this response may mysteriously disappear when Mitchell is caught at short cover.
Sciver-Brunt to miss next two World Cup games
Here’s more from the ECB on the news that England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss at least their next two games at the World Cup.
England Women’s captain Nat Sciver-Brunt suffered a left calf muscle strain, in a similar location to her recent injury, while batting against Ireland Women in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup group match in Southampton on Tuesday.
Following a scan on Wednesday and further assessment by the England medical team, she will be unavailable for the next two fixtures against Scotland and West Indies.
Nat will continue to be monitored and assessed by the England medical team as she undertakes her rehab while remaining in the squad.
Vice-captain Charlie Dean will lead the side on the field in Nat’s absence during the next two matches.
46th over: New Zealand 162-4 (Mitchell 31, Blundell 21) Brook continues, in fact, though it’s to no particular effect. Meanwhile, some very bad news for the England Women’s team: Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss their World Cup games against Scotland and West Indies after suffering a calf strain against Ireland last night. Urgh.
“Thanks for the reminder about the wonderful 1999 semi-final, Rob,” writes Richard O’Hagan. “I have always felt that it was nice of Australia and South Africa to put on such a great show and make us forget just how dire England were in that tournament.
Talking of 1999, and how bad England were, the latest episode of The Film Room on Sky Sports looks so good. The subject is England’s Test series against New Zealand in 1999. I had it on in the background without volume this morning. Every time I looked up, one or all of Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Phil Tufnell were convulsing with laughter.
45th over: New Zealand 158-4 (Mitchell 28, Blundell 25) The Sky commentator Mark Butcher (how good a pundit is he by the way?) thinks Brook came on so that Matt Fisher could change ends.
The introduction of Jofra Archer at the other end supports that view. Archer’s first ball is slightly short and cut expertly for four by Blundell. Later in the over, an inswinger flies away for four leg byes; New Zealand have scored 29 runs fom the last four overs.
44th over: New Zealand 149-4 (Mitchell 28, Blundell 21) And now for something completeley different: Harry Brook is having a bowl. The last time he bowled in a Test was that slightly petulant spell at the end of last summer’s Old Trafford Test against India – but he took some good wickets for Yorkshire against Surrey earlier in the season, including Jamie Smith clean bowled.
Mitchell’s occasional bowling was savaged by Brook at Wellington in 2022-23. (“Eeeee’s crap!” chirped Brook to his batting partner Joe Root after smashing another six.) Perhaps Mitchell has that in mind when he clears his front leg to larrup a boundary over wide mid-off, or perhaps I need to get out more.
43rd over: New Zealand 145-4 (Mitchell 24, Blundell 17) Mitchell opens the face to guide Fisher classily for four. Perhaps New Zealand have decided that now’s the time to put pressure back on England; they’ve added 21 runs in the last three overs.
42nd over: New Zealand 140-4 (Mitchell 19, Blundell 17) Out of nothing, Mitchell clears his front leg and smokes Baker over extra cover. So much for batting time! Blundell gets the same result later in the over with a more classical cover drive.
41st over: New Zealand 129-4 (Mitchell 14, Blundell 11) Mitchell guides Fisher behind square for the first of five runs in the over. New Zealand remain happy to bat time, knowing that England will eventually have to turn to their occasional spinners.
40th over: New Zealand 124-4 (Mitchell 11, Blundell 9) Baker ends another good over with a back-of-a-length that straightens sharply to beat Blundell’s outside edge.
39th over: New Zealand 122-4 (Mitchell 11, Blundell 7)
Mitchell is not out!
Or not. Fisher, back in the attack, bowled an outswinger to the right-hander that pitched on middle and straightened slightly to hit the pad. Alas, it didn’t straighten enough and would have missed leg stump.
England have lost two reviews.
England review for LBW against Mitchell!
This might be close you know.
38th over: New Zealand 118-4 (Mitchell 10, Blundell 4) Mitchell tries to take on a Baker bouncer but can only cloth it into the leg side for a single, one of two from the over. Baker has terrific figures: 8-2-19-1.