ENG vs NZ 2nd Test Results

12:24 PM IST Chattogram wins the race. Denying a Banglawash in the third ODI, the Aussies themselves have inflicted a 'Kanga'wash over Bangladesh, winning the 3-match T20I series 3-0. Forced to bowl first, they first choked Bangladesh to 109/8 and then chased it down in 11 overs, losing just 3 wickets.

12:22 PM IST 27 years later - The last time New Zealand played a Test match at The Oval - August 1999. They had defeated England by 83 runs. 27 years later, in 2026, they got their next match and defeated England again, this time by an even bigger margin. Of the 7 venues where they have played a Test match in England, this is only the second where the Kiwis have managed multiple wins, with the other being Headingley. This victory keeps their hopes alive for the 2027 WTC final, moving to 4th in the standings.

12:15 PM IST The small moments - England had their moments, but they missed those. Almost every single time. 1. At the close of Day 1, New Zealand were 291/7, with Jofra Archer spitting steam. Come Day 2, with England looking to wrap the innings quickly, the steam engine was at Hogwarts, with Archer nowhere to be seen with the new ball. Result - the Kiwis nearly got to 400 on the back of just Glenn Phillips -  who was tormented to no end by Archer on Day 1. 2. With 10 minutes left to go for Stumps, James Rew's inexperience cost him as England let go of a fine recovery to end the day on 222/6. Matthew Fisher did give them some hope on the third morning with a fine 50, but a deficit of 100 was too much on this pitch. 3. England had the Kiwis hopping at 28/2 in their second innings. But once the new-ball burst was done, what they saw was a massive 161-run stand between two blokes struggling for form and consistency - Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra. That literally killed the game. 4. 62 runs had come in 8 overs after Tea on Day 4, as England went on to try and repeat their heroics against India here last summer. But some disciplined and tight bowling tested them and they faltered. And just like on Day 2, once again James Rew got dismissed with 10 minutes to the close and England just sank deeper in the mire.

12:15 PM IST Stars align - At the completion of the first Test, it seemed as if New Zealand were undercooked. But a lot happened off the field after that Test, which totally profited the Kiwis. First, England were literally stripped of key players, resulting in a very inexperinced unit. The second, Matt Henry got fit for this Test and boy, was he not welcomed in style. He was missed at Lord's and he compensated for that with a stunning display here. Additionally, batting second is usually preferred at The Oval, but as the pitch played, batting got trickier as the innings went on.

12:08 PM IST Full marks to New Zealand - No doubt. Be it Glenn Phillips in the first innings, fighting his way to a magnificent century, handling Jofra Archer's fire on the opening day or be it the persistence of the three musketeers with the ball - Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O'Rourke - the Black Caps played like a unit. Yes, they did get a few chances in the second innings, but by then, they were in a very good position in the match. Individually, the last 12 months have been very good for Matt Henry in particular. He has picked up 32 wickets - the most by a Kiwi in this passage, going wicketless only once in 10 innings, which happened to be in the second innings at Lord's. He was menacing and metronomical, landing the ball on a string, but it would be unfair to credit only him in the bowling department. Let's see what the players have to say.

11:58 AM IST PLAYER OF THE MATCH - MATT HENRY - 11/109 (MATCH FIGURES) - Matt Henry says he probably didn't expect it to unfold this quick. On the ten-day break between the two Tests, Henry says it helped massively and that the time was spent trying to regain confidence in his body after the back spasm at Lord's. He admits it felt pretty bad letting the guys down on day one there, so coming to The Oval and getting through his full workload means a great deal to him. Henry credits the batters for their small but important contributions and singles out Glenn Phillips for what he did when the ball went soft. On the bowling effort as a collective, he says the way the group applied itself was relentless and that it is nice to get rewards for sticking at it. On Tom Blundell keeping upto the stumps, Matt notes they tried it at the Basin Reserve last year and the team wanted to come out and make things happen. He says you simply cannot do it unless someone of Blundell's quality is standing there. On his own bowling philosophy, MH explains that he would rather be effective than look a hero, and that the focus is always on creating pressure even when the conditions are not offering much. He also reflects on the strength of the bowling group, noting that having Jamieson and O'Rourke back from injuries, along with Nathan Smith, makes them a formidable unit. He says you are only as good as the collective strength of your attack. He adds that the first job on Day 5 was simply to get it done, and they did exactly that.