England v New Zealand: Joe Root stands between hosts and defeat at The Oval

Second Rothesay Test, Kia Oval (four out of five days)

New Zealand 391 (Phillips 100) & 362 (Nicholls 121, Ravindra 76, Mitchell 68)

England 291 (Gay 53, Fisher 50*; Henry 5-80) & 182-5 (Root 75*, Brook 58, Jamison 3-37)

England need 281 more runs, New Zealand need five wickets.

score card

Joe Root stands on the day that unbeaten captain Ben Stokes made 95 for Durham in the second Test between England and New Zealand.

At England’s The Oval, he hit a world record 463 at 40-3 and was in danger of missing the fourth day.

At the same time, Stokes was on his way to his highest score in any cricket tournament since his century in the fourth Test against India almost a year ago, until he was investigated for an incident in a London nightclub that was unavailable for this Test.

But with the battalion 275 miles away, stand-in captain Root made a typically unbeaten 75 to take England’s rearguard into the final day.

Root is the second man behind Indian great Sachin Tendulkar to reach 14,000 Test runs, earning a standing ovation on just two of them.

He shared an interesting stand of 97 with Harry Brooke, the vice-captain mostly for 58. Both Root and Brooke were given out lbw to Matt Henry, who eventually had Brooke caught at slip.

James Rew quashed fears of a four-dayer, managing to get on the scoresheet for Kyle Jamieson in the dying moments, leaving England 182-5 and New Zealand one wicket behind.

England are leading 1-0 in three matches.