LONDON: New Zealand took complete command of the second Test against England as Henry Nicholls struck a masterful century in a big partnership with Rachin Ravindra to stretch their lead to 352 on day three at the Oval on Friday.

Having dismissed England for 291 just before lunch for a first-innings lead of 100, New Zealand lost openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway cheaply but then turned the screws to reach a commanding 252-3 at the close.

On a day of unbroken sunshine, Nicholls took full advantage of the batsman-friendly conditions with an unbeaten 119. Daryl Mitchell was 32 not out at the close.

Ravindra, dropped on seven with New Zealand wobbling slightly on 48-2, played fluently in a third-wicket stand of 161, but with a century beckoning he fell lbw to England’s part-time spinner Jacob Bethell having scored 76.

England began the day on 226-6 in reply to New Zealand’s first-innings 391 and lost Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue in quick succession as pace bowler Matthew Henry completed his first five-wicket haul against England.

A defiant half century by number nine Matthew Fisher put the brakes on New Zealand’s charge and Archer then produced a hostile opening spell as England threatened a counter-attack.

But England’s fire faded and New Zealand are now clear favourites to level the three-match series having lost the opener by 115 runs at Lord’s.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 391 (G. Phillips 100; J. Bethell 3-26)

ENGLAND (1st Innings, overnight 222-6):

B. Duckett run out 36

E. Gay c Blundell b O’Rourke 53

J. Bethell c Blundell b Smith 9

J. Root lbw b Henry 46

H. Brook lbw b Henry 24

J. Rew c Mitchell b O’Rourke 24

J. Cox c Latham b Henry 27

J. Archer c Blundell b Henry 8

M. Fisher not out 50

J. Tongue c Smith b Henry 1

S. Baker c Latham b Jamieson 4

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-5, NB-3) 9

TOTAL (all out, 84 overs) 291

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-45 (Duckett), 2-68 (Bethell), 3-142 (Gay), 4-170 (Root), 5-177 (Brook), 6-217 (Rew), 7-235 (Cox), 8-236 (Archer), 9-238 (Tongue)

BOWLING: Henry 24-3-80-5, Jamieson 20-6-78-1 (1nb), O’Rourke 20-2-68-2 (1nb), Smith 18-5-57-1 (1nb), Ravindra 2-0-2-0

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

T. Latham c Rew b Archer 4

D. Conway c Brook b Tongue 11

H. Nicholls not out 119

R. Ravindra lbw b Bethell 76

D. Mitchell not out 32

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-4, NB-1) 10

TOTAL (for three wickets, 56 overs) 252

STILL TO BAT: T. Blundell, G. Phillips, N. Smith, K. Jamieson, M. Henry, W. O’Rourke

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Latham), 2-28 (Conway), 3-189 (Ravindra)

BOWLING: Archer 8-0-39-1 (1nb), Fisher 12-3-45-0, Tongue 11-3-49-1, Baker 9-1-42-0, Root 6-0-25-0, Bethell 8-0-34-1, Brook 2-1-9-0

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2026