New Zealand made very short work of claiming the five England wickets required to secure victory in the second Test on Sunday, to level the series at 1-1 with one match to play. Matt Henry removed four England batters, including Joe Root for 77, in a ferocious 25-minute spell at the Oval. The hosts began the day on 182 for five but added just 10 runs for the first four wickets lost, slipping to 192 for nine as the Black Caps showed no mercy.
Root's Resistance Ends Quickly
Root had kept England's faint hopes of salvaging the match alive with his stand of 75 on Saturday, but the interim captain was quickly trapped lbw by Henry when the final day began, having added only two further runs. Henry then bowled Jofra Archer for a two-ball duck to complete a double-wicket maiden over. The all-rounder's hot streak continued as he dismissed Matthew Fisher and Josh Tongue, both for ducks, in consecutive balls, leaving Sonny Baker to join Jordan Cox at the crease.
Cox's Brief Resistance
Cox (25) gave the home crowd something to cheer with a pair of boundaries, but Henry completed the job soon after, removing him with a yorker to end the match within an hour of the resumption. Henry finished with second-innings figures of six for 29, taking his match total to 11 wickets for 109.
Stokes and Atkinson Withdrawn
The day began with news that Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson had both been withdrawn from their County Championship matches at the request of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Both players were left out of the second Test after breaching a team curfew, but both now appear likely to be recalled to the England XI for the third Test, which starts at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
