ENG vs NZ: New Zealand smell victory after Jamieson and Mitchell's heroics on Day 4
New Zealand Test team celebrates (Source: X/@BLACKCAPS)
Published - 20 Jun 2026, 10:49 PM• Read time - 3 mins
New Zealand can smell a win in the second Test against England as they finished Day 4 in a commanding position, just five wickets away from sealing a series-levelling victory at the Oval. England’s stand-in captain Joe Root (75*) is still fighting for his team in the middle as he took them to stumps on 182/5, still needing 281 runs to win.
Kyle Jamieson (3/37) turned out to be a thorn in England’s flesh with his timely strikes, never allowing the hosts to get in control of the massive run chase. Earlier in the day, New Zealand resumed their second innings on 252/3, leading by 352 runs with Henry Nicholls (119*) and Daryl Mitchell (32*) at the crease.
England started the day positively as Jofra Archer (3/62) got Henry Nicholls (121) caught at second slip, in the third over of the day. Following his dismissal, Tom Blundell joined Daryl Mitchell at the crease as the duo built on New Zealand’s lead with a 29-run stand, before Josh Tongue made Blundell (16) edge to wicketkeeper James Rew.
With wickets falling at the other end, Mitchell (68) pressed on the accelerator, bringing up his 16th half-century in Tests. He found good support from Nathan Smith (38) with the duo adding 42 runs for the seventh wicket, which took their lead to 449.
Kyle Jamieson gives New Zealand a perfect start with the ball
Post lunch, the Kiwis were skittled for 362 as Matthew Fisher (3/58) cleaned up the tail. Chasing a monumental target of 463, England were expecting to get off to a flying start, but Kyle Jamieson removed Emilio Gay (11 off 14) and Jacob Bethell (0 off 4) in the fourth over, to leave the hosts reeling at 13/2.
Will O’Rourke (1/48) accounted for Ben Duckett (9 off 28), who miscued a pull shot straight to Matt Henry as England further succumbed to 40/3. Harry Brook (58 off 54) walked in at number five and got involved in a crucial 97-run stand off 117 balls for the fourth wicket alongside Joe Root to rescue England’s innings.
Henry breaks the massive stand
Both batters made full use of the attacking field setup, hitting the ball to the wide open spaces in the field to keep the scoreboard moving. During the course of his 67th half-century, Joe Root also completed 14000 runs in Tests, becoming the second batter to achieve the milestone.
Meanwhile, a relentless spell from Matt Henry (1/26) continued to test both batters, who survived two lbw decisions via DRS.
New Zealand managed to get another strike just before stumps as the golden arm of Kyle Jamieson trapped James Rew (15 off 39) in front of the stumps. His dismissal brought Jordan Cox (0*) to the crease, who batted out the remaining overs along with Root.
