New Zealand collapse after Kane Williamson hundred to open door for England

After the marathon, get ready for a sprint. England shot off in now-familiar style in pursuit of a series-sealing victory at Basin Reserve after New Zealand's rearguard, underpinned by a doughty 26th Test hundred from Kane Williamson, had ended in a calamitous collapse on the fourth evening.

Williamson's efforts during an innings that spanned more than seven hours at the crease had put New Zealand in a position where they could hope to set England a target well in excess of 300 - all the more remarkable given they had been made to follow on 226 runs in arrears. But Harry Brook proved an unlikely inspiration with the ball and Jack Leach mopped up the tail as New Zealand's last five wickets went down for the addition of 28 runs.

Set 258 to win on a pitch which had become increasingly placid through the course of days three and four, England reached 48 for 1 at the close. Zak Crawley was the man to fall, having played another attacking cameo, madly hacking five boundaries in his 24 off 30 before having his stumps disturbed by a pinpoint offcutter from Tim Southee.

England had shaved 39 off the target by that point, and then sent out Ollie Robinson as a quasi-nighthawk, who unsuccessfully attempted to slog-sweep Michael Bracewell's offspin in the final over the day. The requirement of another 210 runs with nine wickets standing is unlikely to daunt a side that has made a speciality of rip-roaring fourth-innings chases while winning 10 of their last 11 Tests.

For New Zealand, who showed tremendous fight through the efforts of Williamson, Tom Blundell and Daryl Mitchell, as well as Tom Latham and Devon Conway on day three, there remained the possibility of becoming only the fourth team in history to win a Test having been made to follow on.

Having made steady progress through the first two sessions, losing just two wickets along the way, New Zealand's innings was thrown off kilter by the appearance of Brook, English cricket's golden boy, to bowl some wobbly seamers. He quickly proved to have a golden arm, as the final ball of his third over brought a maiden Test wicket - that of Williamson, for a seemingly ironclad 132.

Brook's gentle mediums succeeded where England's two most-prolific Test wicket-takers had failed, as Williamson attempted to leg glance only for a review to pick up the faintest of tickles through to the keeper, Ben Foakes.

England picked up a second wicket out of nowhere shortly after, as Bracewell was guilty of failing to run his bat in coming back for a third. Ben Stokes, limping for much of his day in the field, had gamely given chase out to deep midwicket and fired in a throw, with Foakes demolishing the bails one-handed as Bracewell coasted through the crease.

Southee was unable to repeat his first-innings heroics with the bat, top-edging a swipe at Leach to point, and Matt Henry fell in the same over via an edge to slip. Blundell, having become a bewildered onlooker following the end of his 158-run stand with Williamson, then attempted to throw the bat only to skew an outside edge to slip ten runs short of his hundred. After toiling for 61.3 overs, Leach suddenly had a five-for - the first by a spinner in a Test in New Zealand since Keshav Maharaj in 2017.

The story of the day until then had been Williamson, who overtook Ross Taylor to become New Zealand's leading Test run-scorer during an innings that showcased all of his minimalist qualities. He was given able support by Mitchell and Blundell, the latter helping to subject England to a second wicketless afternoon session in a row as New Zealand switched from looking to erase their deficit to remorselessly building a lead.

Having flicked the fourth ball of the morning through midwicket to go past his longtime former team-mate Taylor, Williamson was content to bob along at his own pace, playing with soft hands and barely giving up anything resembling a chance. The closest England came to dislodging him was an attempted stumping off Leach, but although Williamson had dragged his back foot out of the crease, his reflexes were quick enough to get a toe over the line as Foakes whipped off the bails.

The former captain was joined in the trenches by Blundell, who made his sixth 50-plus score in 11 innings against England. His innings, inevitably, was the more skittish, as England ran through a range of tactics to try to unsettle the pair - including James Anderson bowling round the wicket with the keeper up and four men catching in a leg-side ring.

Nothing was successful until Stokes belatedly turned to Brook, although a short-ball ploy almost brought the wicket of Blundell on 30, but his firmly struck pull was grassed by Anderson at backward square leg.

England began the day with a still-new ball to aid their efforts and Robinson struck early to remove Henry Nicholls, with New Zealand still two runs from parity. Mitchell then boshed his way to a run-a-ball 54, a frenetic innings that saw him target Anderson with a series of front-foot mows and reach his fifty by hoisting Leach into the stands at long-on, before top-edging an ungainly hack at Stuart Broad to end a 75-run stand with Williamson.

Nicholls had flirted with danger throughout his innings, and was eventually held in the slips at the fourth attempt by the juggling Brook - from whom there turned out to be more magic to come.