New Zealand 291 for 7 (Blundell 51, Phillips 49*, Bethell 2-8, Baker 2-63) vs England

It was Archer’s duel with Phillips that gripped the attention during the day’s final phase. Phillips had done the majority of the scoring as the sixth-wicket pair added 75 from 90 balls, but he suddenly found himself in Archer’s crosshairs as Joe Root went back to his senior seamer for a fourth spell. With the field set for short stuff, Phillips was repeatedly forced to take evasive action during a fascinating period play in which he went 36 minutes, and 20 balls from Archer, without scoring.

With Jacob Bethell burgling the wickets of Blundell and Nathan Smith at the other end, Root was enjoying a solid return to captaincy – although an over rate that saw England fall 13 short of the scheduled 90 might yet earn a more critical appraisal from the officials.

Luck at the toss was with Root, back in his captaincy blazer for the first time since 2022, but this was a very different prospect for the bowlers when compared to the first Test at Lord’s, where 16 wickets fell on the opening day. While there was initially a green tinge to the surface here, pitches at The Oval have tended to be batter-friendly in recent times – and there was the promise of runs as the sun rose high and the early cloud cover burned off.

Root was nevertheless keen for his new-look team to get out on the field and it was a newish face – if that can be said of a 28-year-old who has long been around the set-up – who made the early breakthrough. Fisher won his first Test cap on Root’s last tour as captain, in the Caribbean, but has had a long wait to add another to his collection. A second Test wicket was more readily forthcoming as Devon Conway gloved a short delivery down the leg side in Fisher’s opening spell, Rew snaffling up a maiden dismissal behind the stumps.

Latham looked to be bedding in for the long haul, notching his first boundary after an hour’s play when flicking Tongue through midwicket. Nicholls, too, dealt largely in controlled nudges, before a brace of uppercuts for four helped raise New Zealand’s fifty. But Archer, back for a second spell before lunch, finally claimed the wicket his bowling had deserved when squaring up Latham, a thick edge flying high to the right of gully where Bethell plucked an impressive two-handed catch.

Rachin Ravindra got off the mark by whipping Archer for four first ball, a stroke he repeated a couple of overs later. He had looked New Zealand’s most-fluent batter, a pristine straight drive off Tongue bringing up the 100, only for a loose shot to give Baker a first international wicket – after tough ODI and T20I debuts last year – in the following over, Bethell again holding the catch at gully. With Tongue having dislodged Nicholls straight after lunch, New Zealand were four down and casting around for someone to make a significant contribution.

Mitchell looked like he could be the man to provide it as he capitalised on being dropped by Cox on 2 – a tough low chance to leg slip – and then survived an England review for lbw off Fisher. He thrashed Baker for four through cover, Blundell doing the same later in the over to signal a shift in momentum, and Root’s answer was to turn to Harry Brook and his medium-somethings. Unfazed, Mitchell stepped out to launch four more over the off side, and Blundell then picked off Archer’s loosener as New Zealand ended the afternoon session in more positive shape.