New Zealand crush England by 253 runs in 2nd test at The Oval as Henry rips through the tail
A spectacular bowling masterclass from Matt Henry, who took five wickets for three runs on the final morning, guided New Zealand to an emphatic 253-run win over England at The Oval, sending the series to a Nottingham decider
London: New Zealand won The Oval test by 253 runs after routing England for 209 just 48 minutes into the fifth and final day Sunday.
The crushing win followed England’s own big win at Lord’s and sends the series to a decider in Nottingham starting on Thursday.
England resumed on 182-5 with an improbable target of 463 and fast bowler Matt Henry took the last five wickets.
The metronomic Henry gave a masterclass with a spell of 5-3 in 31 balls.
They earned him 6-29 in the innings and, after his 5-80 in the first innings, 11-109 in the match, the best-ever match figures by a New Zealand bowler against England.
Henry also achieved his first 10-wicket match haul in his 35th test.
“I didn’t expect it to unfold like that today but probably saved a hot day in the field,” Henry said after he was named the player of the match.
Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Matthew Fisher and Josh Tongue were dismissed in two double-wicket maidens by Henry. He was on a hat trick but Jordan Cox defended it.
Root added only two runs to his overnight 75 and was beaten by Henry between bat and pad and struck plumb on the back thigh. He reviewed in vain and trudged off with 77 from 145 balls, taking with him England’s last hope.
Henry was the first bowler to take out Root and Harry Brook twice in a single test.
Archer’s wickets were smashed by an unplayable shooter under his bat. Archer threw back his head and smiled after his two-ball duck. Fisher chopped on to his leg stump on 0 and Tongue edged to first slip on 0, too. Henry stood still and yelled at his 5-for and 10-for milestones before he was mobbed again by teammates.
Cox, on 0 overnight, had a cameo 25 before he was bowled trying to sweep, bringing the match to its inevitable end. Sonny Baker didn’t score.
New Zealand earned only its seventh win in England in 95 years of touring, and only its second at The Oval. The other was in 1999.
Henry suffered back spasms on the first morning at Lord’s, which turned New Zealand’s senior seamer into a virtual passenger. A 10-day gap to The Oval test let him recover fully.
“It feels bad when you let the guys down on day one,” he said. “It was great to come here and get my quota out.”
Henry is the first bowler to take 10 wickets in an Oval test since Shane Warne in the 2005 Ashes, and the first pacer since Devon Malcolm in 1994 against South Africa.
He praised wicketkeeper Tom Blundell for notably standing up to the stumps when he bowled and keeping the England batters in two minds at the crease.
“Having a world-class operator like Tom is huge,” Henry said. “He’s always up for it. You can’t do it unless you’ve got someone good behind the stumps. We know England like to create a flow of runs.”
Beside Henry, Kyle Jamieson took four wickets in the match after starring with the ball on Saturday evening. Glenn Phillips hit his maiden test hundred in the first innings that put New Zealand on top for good, and Henry Nicholls added his hundred in the second innings in a giant partnership with Rachin Ravindra that batted England out of the game.
“Little moments in the first innings set the platform for the ball to get soft and Glenn to do his thing,” Henry said. “Top order did a job for us. The way the guys applied themselves with the ball, we talked about being relentless and different from each end. We stuck at it and got the rewards.”
