ENGLAND REW MORE MISSED CHANCES

Errors galore as Root's men left with a mountain to climb

- BY RORY DOLLARD

ENGLAND saw New Zealand take a stranglehold on the second Test, with missed chances by James Rew and Emilio Gay adding to the home side's error count.

By the end of day three at the Kia Oval the tourists were leading by 352 runs with seven wickets still in hand.

An inexperienced bowling attack struggled to come up with answers as centurion Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra stacked up a killer stand of 161.

Ravindra finally fell for 76 but Nicholls, rising admirably to the challenge of replacing the retired Kiwi great Kane Williamson at No.3, guided his side to 252-3 with an outstanding 119 not out.