New Zealand head into the decider with plenty of positives, namely Glenn Phillips’ breakthrough innings and Henry Nicholls’ stepping into the shoes of the recently retired Kane Williamson, to go with Henry’s arrival in the series after back issues at Lord’s.
Matt Henry celebrates the wicket of England’s Joe Root on day five at The Oval. Photo / Photosport
However, the Black Caps will weigh up changes in the bowling unit, considering the tight turnaround between The Oval and Trent Bridge. The pair of Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke will come under the microscope, given their recent returns from back surgery, while the presence of Mitchell Santner as a specialist spinner will also be considered.
Despite victory, the Black Caps remain fourth in the World Test Championship standings, with three wins, one draw and one defeat from their first five matches played, behind Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
England, meanwhile, will almost certainly return to captain Ben Stokes, who sat out in south London after his late-night nightclub scuffle after the series opener alongside fast bowler Gus Atkinson. The pair had been under investigation by England’s cricket regulator, but the nature of this defeat appears to have seen all forgiven with no further punishment.
Despite Root’s strong showing with the bat in the second innings, England’s record under his captaincy now reads just one victory from the last 18 tests played. Twice, England had New Zealand on the back foot, at 107-4 and 28-2 in the first and second innings respectively, and on both occasions let the situation slip.
For all the local hopes of a world record run chase, England’s race was effectively run with the day’s 13th ball, when Henry trapped Root LBW to expose the hosts’ long tail, on show when he bowled Jofra Archer (0) with one that kept low to leave the hosts 188-7.
One over later, Henry had his fourth in the innings and ninth in the match when Matt Fisher played onto his stumps for an eight-ball duck, and then his fifth and 10th when Josh Tongue edged his first delivery to Daryl Mitchell at slip.
As the last specialist batter, Jordan Cox survived Henry’s hat-trick ball, and saw England cross 200 when he ramped Jamieson to third man for a boundary. But after a late flourish, Cox became Henry’s final victim, when he walked too far across his stumps and was bowled around his legs for 25.
The third and final test begins at Trent Bridge next Thursday night (NZT).
New Zealand 391 & 362
England 291 & 209 (Root 76; Henry 6-29)
New Zealand win by 253 runs
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.