LONDON (AP) — New Zealand was 166-4 and still sweating for runs from England's inexperienced bowling attack in the second session of The Oval test on Wednesday.
New Zealand added 91 runs in 24 overs after lunch for the loss of Henry Nicholls for 24 and Rachin Ravindra for 33, both batters doing themselves in.
But Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell were sharing easily their team’s best partnership at tea of 59 runs from 13.4 overs. The streaky Mitchell had 33 including four boundaries, and Blundell was 23 from 32 balls.
While they looked nowhere near comfortable, their growing stand was ominous for the home side. Blundell and Mitchell were New Zealand's highest scorers on the last tour of England in 2022, and had the four highest partnerships for their team.
Mitchell was dropped on 2 not long after Nicholls, on 23 at lunch, added only one more run and was out playing on against Josh Tongue.
Ravindra tried to be aggressive and moved from 11 at lunch to 33, but in trying to guide debutant pacer Sonny Baker through third man he stroked the ball to Jacob Bethell at gully.
Bethell's second excellent catch gave Baker his maiden test wicket.
Mitchell on 10 survived an lbw appeal and video replay that cost the home team a second review and, without looking in total control, passed 1,000 career runs against England just before tea.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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