Matt Henry removed England stand-in captain Joe Root and Harry Brook at the Oval on Thursday as New Zealand capitalised on Glenn Phillips’s maiden Test century.
England closed on 222-6 on the second day of the second Test, replying to New Zealand’s first-innings 391 and trailing by 169 runs.
Henry had been hampered by back spasms during England’s 115-run victory in the first Test of this three-match series at Lord’s a fortnight earlier.
But the fast bowler trapped both Root (46) and Brook (24) lbw just as they threatened to accelerate, finishing the day with 2-57 from 16 overs in south London.
Root was captaining England for a record-extending 65th time after Ben Stokes, his successor as skipper, was dropped for breaking curfew following the win at
Lord’s.
White-ball captain Brook has long been England’s designated Test vice-captain.
However, he was not handed the reins at the Oval after his late-night drinking in Wellington last November, ahead of a dismal 4-1 Ashes series defeat, led team bosses to introduce the curfew in the first place.
After Phillips was dismissed for exactly 100 to end New Zealand’s innings, England’s Ben Duckett struck a fluent 36 from just 25 balls, only to be run out by Nathan Smith’s direct hit from mid-off after opening partner Emilio Gay set off for a needless single.
Smith then had Jacob Bethell caught for 9 by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell with a delivery that nipped away.
Gay put the earlier mix-up behind him to register a second fifty in as many Tests, following his debut half-century at Lord’s.
But he lasted only two more balls, edging to Blundell while attempting to evade a rising delivery from Will O’Rourke.
Brook stepped outside leg stump to carve O’Rourke over point for an outrageous six, while Root collected his boundaries in more orthodox style.
With Blundell standing up to the stumps to keep the batters in their crease, Henry then pinned the home captain plumb lbw.
England’s 170-4 soon became 177-5 when Henry found movement off the seam again to dismiss Brook.
Wicketkeeper James Rew, one of three England debutants, gloved an attempted pull off O’Rourke to slip.
Earlier, Phillips received excellent support from Kyle Jamieson (41) in an eighth-wicket stand of 87, the pair cashing in on erratic England bowling and sloppy fielding.
Phillips, nicknamed the “energiser bunny” by team-mate Daryl Mitchell, top-edged a pull to reach a 76-ball fifty.
Jamieson should have gone for 15 when his swipe off debutant fast bowler Sonny Baker looped gently to deep midwicket, only for Duckett to spill a simple chance.
England then overdid the short-ball tactic, with Root failing to rein in their naive approach as New Zealand plundered 74 runs in 12 overs.
A single off Jofra Archer took Phillips to his century, his first in a 19-Test career, before he holed out off Matthew Fisher.
(With AFP Inputs)
