New Zealand was slowly but surely closing in on winning The Oval test after reducing England to 182-5 on Saturday (June 20, 2026) in a doubtful fourth-innings chase of 463.

England interim captain Joe Root was 75 not out at stumps on day four with debutant Jordan Cox beside him and yet to get off the mark.

But even with Root, test cricket’s second highest run-scorer in the middle, few gave England a chance of pulling off a miracle comeback.

England came out after tea, already three wickets down for 54, to a spectator with a trumpet blowing the tune to “The Great Escape,” the 1963 Steve McQueen war epic.

And for a compelling 90 minutes England supporters could dream as Root and Harry Brook decided to go down swinging.

They brought up 50 together off 42 balls. New Zealand got the ball changed but Brook pulled Nathan Smith for six over square leg.

Brook got another Oval ovation after reaching his fastest test fifty, off 33 balls, and the crowd were back on their feet for Root’s fifty off 81 balls.

But the batters’ bravado was dampened by Matt Henry.

New Zealand’s senior seamer, who took five wickets in the first innings including Root and Brook, returned to produce a nagging line and length that got both batters out lbw. But both umpire’s decisions were overturned because Root and Brook got subtle inside edges onto their pads.

But Henry ultimately trumped the great escapes and broke the partnership of 97 when he got Brook deflecting a block to first slip on 58 off 54 balls.

Without his inspiration, Root dug in with debutant James Rew and they looked like reaching stumps together until Kyle Jamieson hit Rew in the groin nine minutes from the day’s end. New Zealand’s speculative review turned up aces with Rew lbw to a bail trimmer on 15.

England was 54-3 against New Zealand in an unlikely fourth-innings chase of 463 at tea on day four of The Oval test on Saturday (June 20, 2026).

New Zealand was bowled out for 362, England scooping up the last four wickets in 6.1 overs after lunch.

That set England 463 to win the test and clinch the series with a match to spare; a total far above the world record chase of 418 by West Indies against Australia at St. John’s in 2003 and way above England’s best chase of 378 against India in Birmingham in 2022.

The alternative was to bat out four-plus sessions for a draw.

Neither scenario looked likely as New Zealand’s pace attack made immediate inroads under cloud cover.

Kyle Jamieson removed Emilio Gay and his replacement Jacob Bethell in the fourth over.

Gay on 11 flicked straight to midwicket into the hands of Rachin Ravindra, who was mobbed by his teammates after dropping three sitters in the series, including one in the first innings. Bethell went for a four-ball duck when he missed Jamieson and was plumb on the front pad.

Ben Duckett survived an umpire’s call on a Jamieson delivery that would have clipped leg stump, but he added only four more runs when he was out to a poor shot on 9 just 15 minutes before tea. Duckett toe-ended a pull at Will O’Rourke straight to Matt Henry at mid-on.

Captain Joe Root was on 24 with vice captain Harry Brook on 9 at the break.

Root was almost gone before he scored when an edge off Jamieson fell just short of second slip. His second run brought up his 14,000th in tests, only the second man to the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar.

Jamieson had 2-10 from five overs and O’Rourke had 1-16.