England’s seamers scored in the final session to reduce New Zealand to 315 for nine after the hosts made a strong start in their bid for a consolation win on the opening day of the third and final Test in Hamilton on Saturday.
New Zealand’s tail wagged mightily, but batsmen higher up the order will rue their failure to build the partnerships needed to really cash in on the platform set by Tom Latham and Will Young in an opening stand of 105.
Local hero Tim Southee gave the home fans something to cheer about with his 96th, 97th and 98th Test sixes in a 10-ball 23 in the last half hour, before trying his 99th in his penultimate Test innings.
Mitchell Santner sent New Zealand into disarray with a brilliant half-century from 54 balls and will resume on Sunday alongside the yet-to-be-scored Will O’Rourke, looking to add a few more runs to his tally.
With the series already lost after heavy defeats in Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand are desperate to send Southee into retirement as winners in their final Test, but England’s bowlers have done their job and received their rewards.
Matthew Potts (3-75) was brought into the team as an equal replacement for Chris Woakes and removed Latham for 63 in the second session before sending back Kane Williamson for 44 and Glenn Phillips cheaply after tea.
Brydon Carse contributed the wickets of Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell, while Gus Atkinson took 3-55 in another strong performance on a mostly sunny day.
England captain Ben Stokes showed his fitness by bowling 23 overs and added the wicket of Matt Henry for eight, courtesy of a clever juggling and catch by Harry Brook right at the boundary rope.
“Obviously you always want more,” said Williamson, who entered the match with an average of 95.53 at Seddon Park.
“(There were) a number of contributions, guys coming in, but you never felt like you had any real rhythm out there. It’s always hard to narrow it down until you see a little more of how the field develops, but it’s good to have 300 more on the board.”
Stokes won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat, but Latham and Young struck in the first session for the biggest opening partnership of the series.
Young departed stranded on 42, nudging an Atkinson delivery just after lunch and Potts sent back Latham, who had been dropped on 12 and 53, for an edge behind.
New Zealand would have been happy going to tea at 172-2, but Ravindra was dismissed after a missed shot from 18 just before half-time.
A big total was still possible with Williamson in the box, but he scrambled in an attempt to get the ball off his stumps – the fourth time in five Tests that Potts had taken his wicket.
Daryl Mitchell followed soon after for 14 with an ill-timed delivery to Stokes at deep midwicket near Atkinson, and Phillips and Blundell (21) also paid the price for poor shot selection to leave New Zealand reeling at 231 for seven.
