![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4JMUDCE_260618EngBlackcapsD2_037_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nNew Zealand seized complete control of the second test against England as Henry Nicholls struck a masterful century in a 161-run partnership with Rachin Ravindra to stretch their lead to 352 after Day 3 at the Oval.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
On a baking 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.<\/p>\n
Ravindra, dropped on seven with New Zealand wobbling slightly on 48-2, played fluently but with a century beckoning he fell lbw for 76 to England’s part-time spinner Jacob Bethell.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hostile opening spell<\/p>\n
A defiant half century by number nine Matthew Fisher put the brakes on New Zealand and Archer then produced a hostile opening spell as England threatened a counter-attack.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“It’s obviously a great day. To bowl them out with a lead and get where we are now is what we wanted,” the 34-year-old Nicholls, recalled to the side after New Zealand great Kane Williamson retired after the first test, said.<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t ever going to be able to replace (Williamson). I just really enjoyed being back in test cricket, you want to contribute. It was fun, the partnership with Rachin and with Daryl at the end there.”<\/p>\n
Fisher’s unbeaten 50 in a 10th-wicket stand of 53 with Sonny Baker helped give England something to cling after they completely lost control of the match on day two.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Black Cap Matt Henry bowls at The Oval.<\/p>\n
www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls celebrates reaching his century on the third day of the second test against England.<\/p>\n
With Archer roaring in all guns blazing and bowling at more than 145km\/h, England briefly looked capable of turning the tide.<\/p>\n
He produced a devilish delivery to send Latham back for four — New Zealand’s skipper forced to play at a ball that seamed off a length to take the edge and give debutant wicket keeper James Rew a simple take.<\/p>\n
When Josh Tongue then got Conway (11) snaffled at second slip by Harry Brook at first slip, New Zealand were 28-2.<\/p>\n
Phillips looked edgy early against England’s pacemen but stayed composed, while Ravindra was given a let-off when he edged behind off Tongue but Rew grounded a routine catch.<\/p>\n
After that the runs flowed smoothly for New Zealand with the elegant Ravindra’s 76 coming off just 99 balls.<\/p>\n
Bethell, who took three wickets in the first innings, proved England’s unlikely partnership breaker as Ravindra missed an attempted sweep and was trapped in front of his stumps.<\/p>\n
But Nicholls continued the punishment, bringing up his 11th test century by smashing a Bethell long hop for a boundary.<\/p>\n
Earlier, New Zealand set about mopping up England’s tail in far more effective fashion than the hosts had managed the day before when New Zealand added 100 vital runs.<\/p>\n
Henry, who took the prize England wickets of Joe Root and Brook the previous evening, removed Cox for 22 with Latham taking a smart catch at short mid-wicket.<\/p>\n
Archer looked stunned as he was next to go, swiping at a wide delivery from Henry but edging to wicket keeper Tom Blundell who took a reflex catch close to the stumps.<\/p>\n
Tongue followed soon after, Nathan Smith clinging on to his lofted drive at mid-on at the second attempt as England lurched from 235-6 to 238-9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand seized complete control of the second test against England as Henry Nicholls struck a masterful century…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-487381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}