{"id":747425,"date":"2026-06-19T20:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747425\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T20:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:44:12","slug":"cricket-2026-england-v-new-zealand-second-test-day-three-henry-nicholls-century-as-kiwis-dominate-at-the-oval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747425\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket 2026: England v New Zealand second Test day three, Henry Nicholls century as Kiwis dominate at The Oval"},"content":{"rendered":"

Henry Nicholls\u2019 superb unbeaten century saw New Zealand into an utterly dominant position against England in the second Test at the Oval on Friday.<\/p>\n

New Zealand were 252-3 in their second innings at stumps on the third day in south London — a huge overall lead of 352 runs — with Nicholls 119 not out.<\/p>\n

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The Black Caps, looking to level this three-match series after a 115-run defeat in the first Test at Lord\u2019s, had been faltering at 28-2 on Friday when Nicholls was joined in the middle by Rachin Ravindra.<\/p>\n

But the two left-handers restored New Zealand\u2019s grip on the game with an excellent third-wicket partnership of 161 in 33 overs that only ended when Ravindra was lbw for 76 to Jacob Bethell deep into the final session.<\/p>\n

New Zealand led by exactly 100 runs on first innings after Matt Henry took five wickets as England were dismissed for 291 earlier on Friday.<\/p>\n

England then had a glimmer of hope when New Zealand captain Tom Latham and fellow opener Devon Conway both fell cheaply.<\/p>\n

And the Black Caps were almost 48-3 when Ravindra was dropped on just seven by James Rew, the struggling debutant England wicket-keeper failing to hold a diving left-handed chance off Josh Tongue.<\/p>\n

Henry Nicholls raises his bat while walking off the ground after scoring an unbeaten 119 at the Oval.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nicholls was given the unenviable task of replacing Kane Williamson at No 3 after arguably New Zealand\u2019s greatest batsman of all time shocked the cricket world by retiring from international duty<\/a> following the first Test rather than waiting until the end of the series.<\/p>\n

But the 34-year-old Nicholls, out for just 24 in the first innings, demonstrated plenty of grit and concentration second time around, while still scoring briskly.<\/p>\n

The elegant Ravindra, following his reprieve by Rew, was largely untroubled by England\u2019s quicks repeatedly bowling bouncers on a good pitch during a 79-ball fifty featuring 11 fours.<\/p>\n

Henry Nicholls pulls a delivery during his century.Source: AP<\/p>\n

Stand-in England skipper Joe Root deployed seven bowlers in total, including his own part-time off-spin, during the day\u2019s play.<\/p>\n

It was Bethell\u2019s left-arm spin, however, that proved Ravindra\u2019s undoing when the batsman was given out lbw after missing a sweep to leave New Zealand 189-3.<\/p>\n

But the resolute Nicholls completed the 11th century of his 59-Test career when he pulled Bethell for four — his 14th boundary in 136 balls faced.<\/p>\n

Earlier, fast-medium bowler Henry returned fine innings figures of 5-80 in 24 overs.<\/p>\n

An England team showing five changes from Lord\u2019s and missing captain Ben Stokes, omitted after breaking a team curfew, would have been in an even worse position but for tailender Matt Fisher\u2019s 50 not out — his maiden Test half-century.<\/p>\n

Fisher, on his Surrey home ground, was supported in a last-wicket partnership of 53 by Sonny Baker, one of three England debutants, after they came together with the hosts in dire straits at 238-9.<\/p>\n

Jacob Bethell of England celebrates taking the wicket of Rachin Ravindra.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

England had resumed play on 222-6 on Friday morning beneath sunny blue skies — seemingly ideal conditions for batting.<\/p>\n

Debutant Jordan Cox added just five runs to his overnight was 22 when a clip off Henry was well-caught at short midwicket by a diving Latham.<\/p>\n

Henry, troubled by back spasms at Lord\u2019s, then dismissed Jofra Archer (eight) after a top-edged cut was brilliantly caught by wicket-keeper Tom Blundell, standing up to the stumps.<\/p>\n

Tongue\u2019s miscued drive off Henry was well-held one-handed, at the second attempt, by a back-pedalling Nathan Smith at mid-on to give the 34-year-old paceman his seventh five-wicket haul in 35 Tests.j<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Henry Nicholls\u2019 superb unbeaten century saw New Zealand into an utterly dominant position against England in the second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-747425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}