Tea England 382 for 4 (Finn 56*, Trott 10) and 167 lead New Zealand 460 for 9 dec by 89 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Steven Finn excelled in a new role as nightwatchman by striking a maiden Test fifty as England made steady progress towards saving the first Test in Dunedin. By tea on the final day, England had a lead of 89 with six wickets remaining, the job as good as done. As Finn walked back to the dressing room full of smiles, with 56 to his name, he was in danger of getting the job on a full-time basis.
England lost Nick Compton on a slow final morning, with Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen following in the afternoon, Pietersen's out-of-sorts innings even bringing conjecture that he might have been carrying an injury. All three batsmen fell to the persistent left-arm seam of Neil Wagner, but if the wickets kept a flicker of interest in the match, they never suggested that New Zealand might be on a roll.
Finn could take much credit for that. His wagon wheel when he reached fifty showed five boundaries scooting off in the general direction of third man, but he made good use of his long reach on a pitch that remained as docile as ever. James Anderson, his predecessor, has taken a battering in some of the most threatening situations Test cricket can offer, but Finn got a cushier job and relaxed into it with aplomb. Wagner did test him against the short ball eventually, but only at around 130kph and only when his eye was in.
He reached his 50 from 152 balls, angling Wagner through gully, but then decided to take stock, scratched a new guard and did not score for the next hour and a quarter, his next single, bringing ironic applause from the Barmy Army and a blast from Billy Cooper's trumpet. It was just as well that he did dig in because Trott fell for 52 in the same over, Wagner taking a good leaping catch in his follow-through from a leading edge, and Pietersen soon followed to a weak edge from a nondescript shot.
Perhaps it will emerge that Pietersen is injured, perhaps he was just having one of those days. Just as he is intoxicated by the big occasion, he can run on empty if a game feels flat. If he guested in a club knockabout, there is every chance that somebody would get him out for nought, just as there would be every chance that Finn would get a hundred.
Finn escaped a couple of tough chances; in the first over of the day edging very low towards Dean Brownlie at third slip and later, on 37, sending an edge between the slips off Kane Williamson. The middle of the bat often proved elusive, especially when compared to the timing shown by Trott, but his stay was testament to the work England's bowlers put in on their batting.
England began the day still 59 runs behind and a couple of early wickets, with the ball still new, would have opened the door for New Zealand. However, it took them more than an hour to make the breakthrough which came when Wagner swung one back into Compton's pads who, for a moment, considered the review before deciding, wisely as replays showed, that it would have been a waste.
Compton's seven-hour innings - 117 from 310 balls - was a study in concentration and determination. He was given a warm ovation as he walked off, his father Richard leading the applause from the crowd, and was safe in knowledge that his Test berth is now secure.
Trott played effortlessly, a punchy straight drive off Bruce Martin emphasising that there would be no last-day encouragement for New Zealand's left-arm spinner, who instead continued toil on a dead surface. England made only 53 from 28 overs between lunch and tea and Finn was responsible for 14 of them. But the overs were ticking down and, for England, that was all that mattered.
Finn shines as England close in on draw
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Finn shines as England close in on draw
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Finn shines as England close in on draw
