Tea England 139 for 0 (Cook 64*, Compton 60*) and 167 trail New Zealand 460 for 9 dec (Rutherford 171, McCullum 74, Fulton 55) by 154 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Eventually, England might work out why their batting invariably fails at the start of an overseas Test series. Until they do, they will be left with the sort of battles for survival that they faced against New Zealand in the first Test in Dunedin.
As they battled to right the wrongs of their first innings debacle, England's sense of mortification could hardly have been more apparent. The charge of complacency has been levelled at them from many directions, with former England captains such as Michael Vaughan and Michael Atherton prominent in their criticism. It was not a day for fripperies.
Familiarity perhaps made their task feel a little easier, especially as this time there were no mystery spinners in sight, just a willing but limited New Zealand attack.
Alastair Cook and Nick Compton, faced with a first-innings deficit of 293 and five-and-a-half sessions remaining, settled to a laborious task with equanimity. In the 54 overs by tea, their opening stand was still unbroken, 139 runs carefully gathered without much ado, their resistance on a cold and cheerless day giving the crowd another reason for forbearance.
It was Saturday, but it the mood was so workmanlike it felt like Monday morning. New Zealand's bowlers ran in eagerly, their spirits high and their lengths fuller than their English counterparts, and the captaincy of Brendon McCullum was business-like, more proactive perhaps than his predecessor, Ross Taylor, who had lost the captaincy in all forms of the game in such controversial circumstances.
But for all New Zealand's vigour, a stodgy brown surface showed no signs of deterioration. It was treacly at the start and it behaved as if it would be treacly for ever more. Cook essayed an occasional attractive drive or square cut; Compton just bedded in, his mental approach as upright as his stance, his footwork decisive but rarely expansive.
There was a hint of swing for the left-arm quick, Neil Wagner, the least accurate of New Zealand's fast-bowling trio, and when Cook squirted Bruce Martin's slow left-arm off his pads to reach his 50, there might have been a semblance of turn, but any excitement was tempered by the low bounce that made it easier to counter. Martin did nothing out of the ordinary to take four wickets in the first innings and he may never experience such largesse again.
They took time to settle. Cook, on 4, needed an inside edge to survive Tim Southee's resounding lbw appeal and New Zealand lost a review when Compton, on 16, when the same bowler appealed for a catch down the leg-side, replays suggesting that the ball had brushed his thigh pad. Wagner also found enough inswing to give Compton some uncomfortable moments.
After staving off 22 overs before lunch, they were in orderly mood throughout an attritional afternoon. That both have the temperament to bat long was not a matter for debate, but while Cook's Test record has few equals at this stage of his career, Compton was intent on proving that he has the required talent to succeed at this level.
It was all an abrupt change of tempo from New Zealand's enterprising start to the day as they added a further 58 in less than nine overs before declaring with nine down. McCullum, 44 not out from 42 balls overnight, flogged England to distraction, thrashing another 30 from 17 balls as he took toll of an increasingly disenchanted England attack.
McCullum swung Stuart Broad over deep square leg to reach his fifty, the ball sailing over two Union Jacks at the back of a temporary stand and a bus as it flew out of the ground. He then pulled and drove James Anderson for further sixes. To compound Anderson's misery, McCullum escaped potential catches by Cook, at first slip, and Compton, at deep cover, by inches before he skied Broad high to mid on where Anderson held an awkward catch.
As Broad and Anderson persisted in bowling short, McCullum's mood also rubbed off on the debutant left-arm spinner, Bruce Martin, who pulled with gusto until he was caught at the wicket for 41 off Steven Finn attempting another leg-side hit. It was an enterprising start to the day, but it was about to be replaced by a much more serious mood.
Cook and Compton set base with century stand
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Cook and Compton set base with century stand
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Cook and Compton set base with century stand
