second test match between England And new zealand At The Oval, which began on June 17, 2026, has reached an interesting turn. After two days of intense red-ball action in London, the visitors have firmly established a baseline of control. Driven by individual brilliance with the bat and collective discipline with the ball, England’s tour of New Zealand is shaping up to be an absolute classic, with the hosts facing a tough task as the match progresses.
Glenn Phillips’ brilliant century puts New Zealand slightly ahead of England at the end of the second day
Starting the second day with an overnight score of 291/7, New Zealand’s primary objective was to take their first innings total past 350. dynamic middle order batsman glen phillipsWho finished the first day very close to the milestone of 49*, played a brilliant counter-attack to push the Blackcaps into a strong position. Together kyle jamisonPhillips, who contributed 41 runs from 48 balls, formed an important partnership for the eighth wicket, scoring 50 runs from just 52 balls.
Phillips accelerated beautifully and scored a brilliant century in just 135 balls, which included 18 brilliant fours. Ultimately he was the last man out for exactly 100, caught out emilio gay out of bowling Matthew Fisher. Taking advantage of a total of 53 extra runs given by the English bowlers, New Zealand’s first innings ended at 391 runs in 96.2 overs. Debutant spinner for England jacob bethel It was a surprising choice of bowlers, returning extremely impressive figures of 3/26 from his 10 overs, while Fisher took 2 for 62.
New Zealand’s disciplined bowling halted England’s comeback on the second day
Facing a challenging first innings score, England’s response started quickly, but was repeatedly derailed by New Zealand’s relentless, disciplined bowling attack. opener ben duckett And emilio gay Duckett was dismissed for 36 off 25 balls before he looked set for 45, with Duckett being run out by sharp fielding. nathan smith. Bethel could not repeat his bowling success with the bat and became Smith’s victim for only 9 runs.
Gay, along with the captain, scored a patient half-century by scoring 53 runs in 114 balls. Joe RootStabilized the innings by making a partnership of 54 runs. However, New Zealand made excellent use of the Decision Review System (DRS) to overturn the decision and have Gay caught behind Will O’Rourke. Root was looking dangerous after scoring 46 runs, but he was out LBW. matt henry Upheld through the umpire’s call, leading to a short collapse.
Henry immediately struck again, removing the dangerous harry brook He put England in trouble by getting him out LBW for 24 runs. O’Rourke then returned to remove the young wicketkeeper James Rev For 24. By the time stumps were pulled on the second day, England had scored 222/6 after 59 overs. Jordan Cox Unbeaten on 22 runs and Joffra Archer on 0. Scoring at just 1.80 runs per over in the final 10 overs of the day, England still trailed by 169 runs, giving New Zealand a clear, narrow lead at the start of the third day.
Day 2, Stumps
New Zealand have tightened their grip on the competition by taking six wickets in the last two sessions as England trail by 169 runs.#ENGvNZ #Cricket pic.twitter.com/WxBXtw2wug
– CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) 19 June 2026