Matt Henry’s – England were blown away at the Oval as Matt Henry produced a devastating spell, taking 10 wickets in the match to help New Zealand seal a 253-run victory. The defeat came for the second year in a row when Ben Stokes was missing, leaving the series level at 1-1
England’s Test week at the Oval ended in a familiar kind of pain: another match shaped by Ben Stokes’s absence. and this time by something far more immediate than a narrow finish. By the time the final day folded. the scoreboard told the story—New Zealand had won by 253 runs. and Matt Henry’s work had dismantled England for good.
Henry’s day began with precision rather than pressure. With Joe Root interim captain and wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps, Henry used just seven deliveries to strike. One of them nipped back to pin Root on the pad. Umpire Adrian Holdstock raised his finger. Root reviewed for the second time in his innings of 77. and the technology confirmed the ball would have struck leg stump flush—no inside edge. just full impact.
Two balls later, Henry struck again. A delivery kept low and slipped past Jofra Archer’s defensive jab, and in a moment the overnight total of 182 for five became 188 for seven—an emphatic swing that set the tone for what followed.
This wasn’t the first time a bowler with the wicketkeeper standing up had embarrassed England this season. Scott Boland and Michael Neser had done similar damage during last winter’s Ashes. But the scale at the Oval felt brutal, because Henry didn’t just take wickets—he accelerated the collapse.
On the fifth of the morning, England were dealt a further blow with Matthew Fisher. Fisher had made 50 in the first innings, but on Sunday morning he chopped into his stumps for nought. Then. with wicketkeeper Tom Blundell opting to stand back for the first time. Josh Tongue edged a ball through to first slip.
A debutant then faced the hat-trick ball: Jordan Cox. who negotiated it at the start of the seventh without being drawn into the same fate as the rest. Still, Henry’s second five-wicket haul of the match meant the result was only a matter of time. Henry didn’t have to hurry—England’s lower order was already running out of time.
Henry wrapped up the 253-run thrashing with a spell that finished at 11 for 109. the best ever figures by a New Zealander against England. taking a record previously held by Dion Nash for the past 32 years. New Zealand’s victory wasn’t rushed, either. They left England hanging in the last stages. yet managed to move through the innings without losing control—exactly what Henry’s momentum allowed them to do.
There was still a sense of a team caught between youth and circumstance. England have now lost at the Oval for the second year in a row in the absence of Ben Stokes. In 2025. the end had been dramatically close—Chris Woakes batted with his arm in a sling and England came within six runs of India in a dramatic finale. This defeat was not close. It was a landslide.
For the third Test. England are expected to welcome Stokes back after he was pulled out of Durham’s County Championship game against Northamptonshire on Sunday. Seamer Gus Atkinson is also expected to return. having been withdrawn from ongoing County Championship fixtures following their post-midnight activities after victory at Lord’s.
But for now, the emotional weight belongs to the Oval. After Matt Henry finished with 10 wickets in the match, England’s chase had no room to recover—and the series stands level at 1-1 ahead of the final Test in Nottingham on Thursday.
England vs New Zealand second Test Oval Matt Henry Joe Root Ben Stokes 253-run defeat 11 for 109 Nottingham third Test Gus Atkinson