ENG find themselves at 182-5 chasing an improbable target of 463 against NZ
England interim captain Joe Root was 75 not out at stumps on day four
Kiwis are in the hot seat as they look to wrap up the English on day 5 at The Oval
New Zealand was slowly but surely closing in on winning The Oval Test after reducing England to 182-5 on Saturday in a doubtful fourth-innings chase of 463.
England interim captain Joe Root was 75 not out at stumps on day four with debutant Jordan Cox beside him and yet to get off the mark.
But even with Root, Test cricket’s second highest run-scorer, in the middle few gave England a chance of pulling off a miracle comeback.
England came out after tea, already three wickets down for 54, to a spectator with a trumpet blowing the tune to “The Great Escape,” the 1963 Steve McQueen war epic.
And for a compelling 90 minutes England supporters could dream as Root and Harry Brook decided to go down swinging.
They brought up 50 together off 42 balls. New Zealand got the ball changed but Brook pulled Nathan Smith for six over square leg.
Brook got another Oval ovation after reaching his fastest test fifty, off 33 balls, and the crowd were back on their feet for Root’s fifty off 81 balls.
But the batters’ bravado was dampened by Matt Henry.
New Zealand’s senior seamer, who took five wickets in the first innings including Root and Brook, returned to produce a nagging line and length that got both batters out LBW. But both umpire’s decisions were overturned because Root and Brook got subtle inside edges onto their pads.
But Henry ultimately trumped the great escapes and broke the partnership of 97 when he got Brook deflecting a block to first slip on 58 off 54 balls.
Without his inspiration, Root dug in with debutant James Rew and they looked like reaching stumps together until Kyle Jamieson hit Rew in the groin nine minutes from the day’s end. New Zealand’s speculative review turned up aces with Rew lbw to a bail trimmer on 15.
“Got lucky and shocked (myself),” Jamieson said. “The plan tomorrow is to stay patient and be ruthless.”
Mitchell loves England bowlers
New Zealand started the day already with an intimidating lead of 352 at 252-3 but was all out for 362 after lunch. Only Daryl Mitchell made an impact as England found some nip with a ball 60 overs old under the cover of cloud. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue, England’s most experienced seamers, were especially dangerous.
But an old England nemesis, Mitchell, turned his 32 overnight into 68, his eighth test fifty beside three hundreds against England in 12 Tests. He averages 54 against England, far above his test average of 42.
Mitchell could have fallen to the first delivery of the day when he drove at Archer and edged to second slip but the ball flew through Brook’s outstretched right hand.
Mitchell got to lunch with Nathan Smith, who helped to staunch the bleeding of wickets with 38. But in going for quick runs after lunch New Zealand collapsed in a heap. Still, for only the fifth time ever, New Zealand scored 350+ in each innings of a test, and for the first time in 11 years.
Archer led England with 3-62, Tongue took 2-64, and Matthew Fisher benefited from the late swats with 3-58.
England was set a target of 463, a total far above the world record fourth-innings chase of 418 by West Indies against Australia at St. John’s in 2003 and way above England’s best chase of 378 against India in Birmingham in 2022.
The alternative was for England to bat out four-plus sessions for a draw.
Neither scenario looked likely, especially after Jamieson removed Emilio Gay and his replacement Jacob Bethell in the fourth over.
Gay on 11 flicked straight to midwicket into the hands of Rachin Ravindra, who was mobbed by his teammates after dropping three sitters in the series, including one in the first innings. Bethell went for a four-ball duck when Jamieson pinged him plumb on the front pad.
Ben Duckett was out to a poor shot on 9 at 40-3 just before tea. Duckett toe-ended a pull at Will O’Rourke straight to Henry at mid-on.
Root was almost gone before he scored when an edge off Jamieson fell just short of second slip. His second run brought up his 14,000th in tests, only the second man to the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar.
Root inevitably raised his 108th test fifty, of which he’s turned 41 into hundreds, but he was fighting another inevitable outcome. New Zealand sought only its seventh win in England in 95 years of touring to send the series to a decider in Nottingham next week.
