England saw New Zealand take a stranglehold on the second Rothesay Test, with missed chances by James Rew and Emilio Gay adding to the home side’s error count.
By the end of day three at the Kia Oval the tourists were leading by 352 runs with seven wickets still in hand.
An inexperienced bowling attack struggled to come up with answers as centurion Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra stacked up a killer stand of 161 – almost doubling the best partnership of the series thus far.
Ravindra finally fell for 76 but Nicholls, rising admirably to the challenge of replacing the retired Kiwi great Kane Williamson at No 3, guided his side to 252 for three with an outstanding 119 not out.
And when opportunity did knock for England, their fielders failed to answer. Josh Tongue could have left the Black Caps 48 for three when he snared the outside edge, but debutant Rew dived one-handed at a catch that looked to be more comfortable than he made it appear and dropped Ravindra on just seven.
The 22-year-old came under further scrutiny later on: Nicholls was on 42 when he gloved Jofra Archer’s hostile bouncer for four, clearing Rew when he seemed to have a chance to cling on.
Interim captain Joe Root, who returned to lead at short notice after Ben Stokes’s exclusion, began losing patience with a young team, and his mood cannot have improved when Ravindra popped Jacob Bethell’s unpredictable left-arm spin towards short-leg. However, Gay was unable to get in position, throwing out an arm and getting no more than a fingertip graze.
The list of mistakes was mounting on a hastily rearranged side showing five changes from the one that went 1-0 up at Lord’s, Ben Duckett involved in a costly drop of his own on day two as well as being carelessly run out by Gay. They also conceded a staggering 53 in extras in the first innings, compared to New Zealand’s nine.
Friday’s play started with another painful passage, losing three wickets for three runs as Matt Henry’s unerring seamers removed Jordan Cox, Archer and Tongue – excellent catches by Tom Latham, Tom Blundell and Nathan Smith putting England’s later efforts in perspective.
The completion of a classy five-wicket haul for Henry left England 238 for nine, adrift by 153, before a show of steel from Matt Fisher and last man Sonny Baker.
Neither had scored an international run before – Fisher having faced just five balls on his previous Test outing four years ago and Baker on debut – but the pair defied expectations to put on 53.
Fisher hit an unbeaten 50, just his third in first-class cricket, while Baker fended off 36 deliveries in a 17-over rearguard before falling to Kyle Jamieson.
England’s 291 left them exactly 100 behind, but Archer had Latham caught behind with an early tester and Tongue’s first delivery was too good for Devon Conway.
Had Tongue added Ravindra, the momentum may have shifted, but Rew’s fumble proved a turning point. England waited 33 overs before getting their man, lbw for 76 sweeping Bethell, with their unproven attack showing its limitations.
Fisher generated little threat, Baker and Tongue struggled for consistency, and Archer cut a frustrated figure. Nicholls outmatched them all on his way to an 11th Test hundred, a high-class innings containing 16 fours.
