England’s condition deteriorated in the second test, New Zealand took a strong lead with Glenn Phillips’ century.

Delhi: On the second day of the second Test match being played at The Oval ground in London, New Zealand made a spectacular comeback and strengthened its hold on the match. The England team, which looked in good condition on the first day, came under pressure on the second day due to many mistakes and now it is facing a big challenge.

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Glenn Phillips played a memorable century innings

England’s strategy remained under question since the beginning of the second day. The team initially adopted the plan of short balls, but it did not yield much benefit. Meanwhile, New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips batted brilliantly and scored the first century of his Test career.

Thanks to his brilliant innings, New Zealand scored 391 runs, moving ahead of its first day score of 291/7. Phillips also got good support from Kyle Jamieson, who added 41 runs to put the team in a strong position.

England’s fielding became a big problem

England missed many important opportunities on the field. Ben Duckett missed an easy catch of Kyle Jamieson, due to which the team had to suffer the consequences. At the same time, fast bowler Joffra Archer was kept away from bowling for a long time. However, he did take a wicket as soon as he arrived, but by then New Zealand had gone far ahead.

England’s batting faltered

England had a good start when they came to bat in reply to 391 runs. Emilio Gay batted with restraint and scored a half-century, while acting captain Joe Root contributed 46 runs.

There was a partnership of 74 runs between the two batsmen, but after this the team’s innings suddenly started falling apart. England lost three important wickets in just 35 runs and lagged behind in the match.

Matt Henry gave two big shocks to England

New Zealand’s fast bowler Matt Henry gave two big blows to England in a row. He put the host team under pressure by getting first Joe Root and then Harry Brook out LBW.

On the other hand, Will O’Rourke increased England’s problems further by taking the wicket of James Ryu in the final stages of the day.

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169 runs behind, big challenge in front of England

By the end of the day’s play, England had scored 222 runs losing six wickets and is still 169 runs behind New Zealand’s score. Jordan Cox is unbeaten on 22 runs, while Joffra Archer is supporting him.

Now on the third day, the team’s hopes will rest on England’s lower order batting. At the same time, New Zealand would like to strengthen its hold on the match by taking the remaining wickets as soon as possible.