Lunch - England 45 for 3 (Duckett 32*) trail New Zealand 348 (Williamson 93, Phillips 58*, Carse 4-64, Bashir 4-69) by 303 runs

He added 34 for the second wicket with Bethell, whose maiden innings at No. 3 unfolded in extraordinarily tough conditions. He was made to wait 13 deliveries before nudging his first run through the leg-side, and hadn't added to his score in 13 more, until the introduction of Smith allowed him to free his arms with a brace of boundaries: one off the pads, the other through backward point.

Smith, however, got the last laugh at the start of his second over - and then some. With just minutes of the session remaining, he served up a perfect seaming delivery, which angled in at the left-hander from round the wicket, then held its line as it bit and climbed into the edge.

Smith had an agonising wait while the third umpire checked for a no-ball, but with the euphoria still surging, he finished the session with an even more critical incision. Root faced down three deliveries, two of which were called as no-balls this time, but his fourth was on a wider line and nipped back off the surface, taking an under-edge into the stumps.

The transformation of the batting challenge was remarkable, as New Zealand found themselves bowling in the conditions that England themselves had envisaged exploiting after winning the toss on day one. The hot, windy weather that had greeted the first day's play was replaced by cooler, overcast conditions with a gentle breeze that proved perfect for helping the ball talk, with the degree of swing on offer being almost double that which England had managed.

From the moment that Tim Southee launched his farewell series with a sublime maiden to Crawley, including two pitch-perfect outswingers that all but grazed the edge, it was clear that England would not be roaring past New Zealand's total in the manner that they had done in making 823 for 7 declared against Pakistan in Multan last month.

Will O'Rourke proved a doughty No.11 - aided by Carse's failure to attack his stumps as he repeatedly left the ball outside off - and Phillips cashed in briefly to march to his fifth Test fifty.

He had a scare on 42 when Carse, generating a good head of steam, smacked him hard in the grille via a top-edge off the splice, and was then dropped in the same over by Root at slip, a tough diving chance to his right. But Carse eventually got his line to O'Rourke to pluck out his off stump with an outswinging yorker, and close out the innings with career-best figures of 4 for 64 in his third Test.