Innings break New Zealand 113 (Jamieson 38*, Robinson 5-39, Tongue 3-40) trail England 140 (Brook 56, Jamieson 5-62) by 27 runs
Robinson dismantled New Zealand’s top order on the first evening with a dramatic spell of 4 for 10 in six overs – which included three wickets in four balls in his first – and completed his five-for by cleaning up last man Matt Henry on the second morning.
Josh Tongue struck with his first ball of the day, uprooting Phillips’ off stump with a full delivery that snuck past his outside edge. He then got a length ball to jag in sharply off the seam as Nathan Smith became the third batter of the match bowled while shouldering arms, leaving New Zealand 82 for 8 and still 58 behind.
Jamieson, fresh from a five-wicket haul in his first Test since February 2024, decided there was little point hanging around and swung Tongue’s slower ball back over his head into the pavilion for the first six of the Test match, then hauled Robinson for consecutive leg-side sixes as England went to a short-ball plan to the lower order.
Will O’Rourke contributed 1 off 17 balls to a 26-run ninth-wicket partnership before he was bluffed by Gus Atkinson, edging a full ball to slip with the field set for bumpers, before Henry – batting at No. 11 after back spasms on the opening day – lost his middle stump to Robinson.
New Zealand said that Henry’s back had improved overnight, and that his availability to bowl would depend on his level of discomfort in the warm-ups between innings.
