England 222 for 6 (Gay 53, Henry 2-57) batted New Zealand 391 (Phillips 100, Blundell 51, Bethel 3-26), a lead of 169 points.
After an even first day, the momentum shifted towards the touring side during an eventful morning session that saw Phillips collect a memorable hundred – in the process becoming the third New Zealander, after Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, to score centuries in all three international formats.
McCullum, who is now watching the game from the England dressing room, will have a lot to think about after an erratic performance from his side. Their tactics and execution with the ball were initially found wanting, and although Gay once again displayed an impressive temperament, none of the senior players were able to impose themselves in conditions that remained largely good for batting.
England’s opener began to respond by negotiating a three-over mini-session before lunch, with Guy getting off the mark with his first four-ball for the second Test in a row. But there was a warning sign in their run when Ben Duckett called for one quick pass on the offside and Nathan Smith narrowly missed at the striker’s end.
Duckett came out of the break in a typically moody over, hitting boundaries on his way to 36 off 25 balls. However, Smith did not need a second call when this time Guy attempted a drop and run leaving Duckett two yards out.
England raced to 58 for 1 after 10 overs, but New Zealand toughened up and took the wicket of Jacob Bethell, who was lofted to nine successive deliveries by Smith from the Vauxhall End before being drawn into a push in the 10th over and heading backwards, caught by Tom Blundell as he stumbled across first slip.
Root, who has captaincy responsibility for the first time since 2022, was out off the first ball when he pressured Smith into the deep third and was usually busy as the third wicket pair brought up a fifty stand in the over before tea. Gay went into the break in the 48th minute and was not out, but his wait was extended due to a half-hour rain delay five balls after the start of the evening session.
He eventually brought up his half-century with a confident hit to midwicket off O’Rourke but again was unable to continue. Two balls later, O’Rourke, having turned to turn the wicket, found the batsman’s shoulder with another short delivery as Gay lost sight of the ball – an edge confirmed by DRS, although Blundell apparently indicating to his skipper, Tom Latham, that the review was not worth pursuing.
As with New Zealand’s top order on Wednesday, the English batsmen continued the trend of being in, then out. Root looked in excellent touch, driving Smith straight and taking O’Rourke for three boundaries in an overcut, pulling and sweeping wide from the cordon – but was pinned on a knee roll just shy of fifty as Henry nibbled one back inside with the bouncer over the stumps.
Brook, whose third shot was an atrocious slap for a six over backward point from O’Rourke’s 90mph/145km/h delivery, fell in similar fashion as England slumped from 143 for 2 to 177 for 5 and in need of a partnership from the latest recruits to the middle-order engine room. Rew had life on 23 when Rachin Ravindra put a top edge to fine leg, but O’Rourke got his leg off with another well-directed bumper two overs later to tip the scales further in New Zealand’s direction.
The second morning belonged to Phillips as New Zealand, aided by a sporadic fielding effort from England, clawed their way to 400 – a significant recovery having reached 107 for 4 and 188 for 5 on the first day, a position from which the terms could be dictated.
They resumed seven down, with Phillips 49 not out and key designs for over 350. New Zealand ended up adding exactly 100 to the total in the space of 19.2 overs, mainly through the efforts of Phillips and Jamieson, who extended their partnership to 87 – helped by a horror drop by Duckett.
Having set up their stall for a keeper’s trick, Sonny Baker’s first ball cleared a leaping Rew for a bye four; His second effort dribbled past the keeper to bring up Phillips’ fifty. Three overs with the old ball leaked 27 runs — and things haven’t improved much since then. Jamieson was hit twice on the helmet and should have been dismissed by Baker when opting for deep midwicket only for Duckett to fiddle with the ball in vain, perhaps hampered by the glare of the sun (although his sunglasses were on top of his hat).
Phillips kept the scoreboard moving with a series of rhythmic hits, while Jamieson responded to the rough treatment by producing his highest Test score since 2020 – a sumptuous cover led by Josh Tong picking his seven boundaries. That root turned into Bethell’s left-arm spin after five overs with the second new ball showing just how bad things were for England.
Bethell had broken the stand, hitting Jamieson’s leg stump as he attempted to loft back across the line after scoring 41 off 48 balls. Phillips was at that point on 83, and Henry kept him company for the 17 more runs he needed – although he also benefited from an England error when a thin edge behind Matt Fisher did not raise until the appeal.
Phillips moved into the 90s when another bouncer clipped the top of his helmet and cleared Rew – credit to the batsman, rather than a leg-bye – and then to a hundred with a sweeping drive off Bethell. With Archer finally called into the attack after 90 minutes of grazing down the field, Phillips was determined not to be held back. He missed a shot short and wide but smacked the next ball for two through the covers before calmly tapping a single to reach three figures.
Alan Gardner is deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanrodrik
