Matt Henry captured the prize wickets of England stand-in captain Joe Root and Harry Brook at The Oval on Thursday as New Zealand cashed in on Glenn Phillips's maiden test century.
England slumped to 222-6 at stumps on the second day of the second test in reply to New Zealand's first-innings 391, a deficit of 169 runs.
An eventful day at The Oval comes to a close.
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 18, 2026
For the full scorecard, head to https://t.co/N6jpmeRPFE pic.twitter.com/63P5Lt4Dzn
Henry was troubled by back spasms during England's 115-run win in the first test of this three-match series at Lord's a fortnight ago.
But the fast bowler had both Root (46) and Brook (24) lbw just when it seemed the pair were about to cut loose, with Henry having taken 2-57 in 16 overs at the close in south London.
"Nice to be able to contribute," Henry, 34, told Sky Sports. "We were really good. It was pretty tough, England put us under pressure early (in their innings).
"But the ability to rein back some momentum was huge for us, and then obviously we reaped the rewards at the end there."
Root was leading England for a record-extending 65th test after Ben Stokes, his successor as captain, was dropped from the side for breaking curfew following victory at Lord's.
White-ball skipper Brook has long been England's designated test vice-captain.
But he was not put in charge at The Oval after his late-night drinking exploits in Wellington in November, ahead of a woeful 4-1 Ashes series loss, prompted team chiefs to impose the curfew in the first place.
After Phillips was out for exactly 100 to end New Zealand's innings, England's Ben Duckett made a fluent 36 off 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.
No quick singles on Nathan Smith!
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 18, 2026
Duckett run out for 36.#ENGvNZ | 📸 @PhotosportNZ pic.twitter.com/QzaQcHgspZ
Smith then had Jacob Bethell caught for nine by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
Gay put the run-out mix-up behind him to compile a second fifty in as many tests following a debut half-century at Lord's.
But Gay faced just two more balls, edging to Blundell while trying to evade a rising delivery from Will O'Rourke.
Brook stepped outside leg stump to carve O'Rourke over point for an outrageous six, with Root stroking boundaries in more orthodox fashion.
But Henry, with Blundell standing up to the stumps to keep the batsmen in their crease, had the home captain plumb lbw.
And 170-4 soon became 177-5 when Henry got another ball to nip back off the seam to remove Brook.
Wicketkeeper James Rew, one of three England debutants, gloved O'Rourke to slip.
PHILLIPS HUNDRED 'FOR DAD'
Earlier, Phillips received fine support from Kyle Jamieson (41) in an eighth-wicket partnership of 87 as the pair capitalised on wayward England bowling and sloppy fielding.
"It was obviously a special one (innings)," Phillips told the BBC. "It's the anniversary of my dad passing so that is one for him."
The 29-year-old is just the third New Zealand batsman to score centuries in all three international formats after Brendon McCullum, now the England coach, and Martin Guptill.
"I haven't been told," said Phillips, who scored his Oval hundred batting down the order at No 7.
"That's really cool. I stick to my process, do my things and hopefully the results come," added Phillips, dubbed the "energiser bunny" by New Zealand teammate Daryl Mitchell.
"I let the other boys do what they do.
"I tried to pounce on anything and thankfully got a few away."
Jamieson should have been out for 15 when his swipe off debutant fast bowler Sonny Baker sailed gently to deep midwicket, only for Duckett to drop a simple chance.
England, however, over-did the short-ball ploy, Root failing to call a halt to their naive tactics as New Zealand blasted 74 runs in 12 overs.
Phillips's single off Jofra Archer saw the allrounder to a century, his first in his 19-test career, before he holed out off Matthew Fisher.
Glenn Phillips notches his first Test century and becomes the third New Zealander to score a hundred in all three formats 👏
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) June 18, 2026
A remarkable innings from a special player.#ENGvNZ | 📸 @PhotosportNZ pic.twitter.com/Bt0ge3RrPO
ENGLAND: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, James Rew (wkt), Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher, Sonny Baker
NEW ZEALAND: Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wkt), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke