LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - ⁠England's slide towards likely defeat by ⁠New Zealand in the second test ‌happened as absent captain Ben Stokes was scoring 95 for his county side Durham on Saturday.

Stokes, ​England's test captain since 2022, ⁠was left out ⁠of the side pending an ECB investigation into ⁠an ‌incident in a London nightclub after the first-test victory at ⁠Lord's.

The all-rounder has been missed by England ​at The ‌Oval where they ended day four ⁠on 182-5 ​chasing what would be a record 463.

No decision has been announced as to whether ⁠Stokes, 35, will return, as ​captain or just a member of the team, for the third test at Trent ⁠Bridge next week.

The ECB are reported to be waiting for a report from the Cricket Regulator into Stokes and fast ​bowler Gus Atkinson who broke ⁠the team curfew after the 115-run win ​in the opener.

Joe Root ‌has deputised as skipper ​in the absence of Stokes.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, Editing by Ken Ferris)