Lunch England 15 for 0 trail New Zealand 391 (Phillips 100, Blundell 51, Bethell 3-26) by 376 runs
Glenn Phillips notched a memorable maiden Test hundred as New Zealand continued their lower-order fightback to power their way to 391 on the second morning of the Oval Test. Phillips was last man out for exactly 100 – also the number of runs New Zealand added to their overnight score – after England had put up a desultory display the ball.
They eventually managed to end the New Zealand innings with just over 20 minutes of the morning session remaining, meaning the openers, Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay, had to negotiate a potentially awkward three-over spell. Both players avoided mishap, as England knocked 15 runs off the arrears.
The mood after first day was that it had been evenly contested, with England chipping out seven wickets after choosing to bowl and New Zealand eyeing a total of 350 and upwards. Much of the responsibility for that rested with Phillips, who resumed on 49 not out and with England set on a bouncer ploy. That leaked 27 runs in three overs up until the second new ball – and things did not improve greatly from there.
Phillips and Kyle Jamieson ended up adding 87 for the eighth wicket – the highest partnership of the innings – but they were aided by an awful drop at deep midwicket by Duckett off Jamieson. That Joe Root turned to Jacob Bethell‘s left-arm spin after five overs with the second new ball was indicative of how badly things were going for England.
Bethell did break the stand, hitting Jamieson’s stumps as he attempted another heave across the line having scored 41 off 48 balls. Phillips by that stage had moved on to 83 with a series of percussive blows, and Matt Henry kept him company for the further 17 runs he needed before top-edging Jofra Archer – who had not been used through the first 90 minutes of the session – straight up. Phillips then holed out to deep square leg in the following over to give Matt Fisher a second wicket.
The first day’s play had ended with a piece of compelling theatre, as Archer targeted Phillips, eyes shrouded by wraparound sunnies, with a fierce spell of short-pitched bowling. However, when England began day two by attempting to bounce out New Zealand’s overnight pair, things quickly went awry.
Phillips moved to fifty off the second ball of the morning, top-edging Sonny Baker over the leaping James Rew for four. Play was briefly held up in the following over by Josh Tongue hitting Jamieson on the helmet, and New Zealand’s No. 9 should have been back in the dressing room when he followed up back-to-back fours off Baker by picking out deep midwicket from another short ball – only for Duckett to juggle it unsuccessfully, perhaps hindered by the glare of the sun.
Tongue and Baker were kept on with the new ball, but Phillips pinged the former through midwicket before punching and clipping Baker for another brace of fours. Jamieson was clocked on the helmet again by Baker in between, but responded to the roughing up by producing his highest Test score since making fifty in his third innings six years ago – a sumptuous cover drive off Tongue the pick of his seven boundaries, as well as a sign that conditions for batting were only getting better.
England’s sloppiness continued, Gay misfielding at cover after Bethell’s introduction to concede another four. But the drinks break helped disrupt New Zealand’s flow and Jamieson missed a hack three balls later to see leg stump pegged back.
Phillips attempted to shield the No. 10, Henry, from Fisher at the Pavilion End, with a pull for four taking him past his previous Test best of 87. He received a slice of fortune when another bouncer clipped the top of his helmet and cleared Rew – runs credited to the batter, rather than leg byes – to go into the 90s, and moved to within a hit of his hundred with a crunching drive off Bethell. Henry then survived a thin edge behind off Fisher that England did not appeal for.
With Archer finally called into the attack, Phillips was intent on not being tied down. He missed out against a short, wide loosener, chopping a cut into the ground, but punched his next ball for two through the covers before calmly tapping a single to reach three figures – in the process becoming the third New Zealander, after Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, to score centuries in all three international formats.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick