New Zealand 138 for 7 (Blundell 25*, Southee 23*) trail England 435 for 8 dec (Brook 186, Root 153*, Henry 4-100) by 297 runs
Aggressive batting, funky declarations, ruthless wicket-taking intent. England ticked the boxes of their new brand of Test cricket to take a firm grip of the second Test after another rain-affected day in Wellington.
While there was no double-hundred for Harry Brook, his early dismissal could not knock the tourists off their stride. Joe Root's serene, unbeaten 153 guided England past 400 and Ben Stokes was able to declare in the first innings for the second Test in succession. James Anderson and Jack Leach then shared six wickets between them to leave New Zealand battling to save the follow-on before squally showers again brought about an early close.
A still-green surface continued to offer something for the bowlers, with wickets falling at regular intervals - serving only to emphasise how much of an outlier the extraordinary first-day stand between Brook and Root had been. Their partnership, which ended in the third over of the second morning, was eventually worth 302; the next-best on either side was 39.
New Zealand's successes on day two were largely limited to seeing off Brook for the addition of just two runs to his overnight 184. Matt Henry was the man to finally get the better of Brook, on the way to figures of 4 for 100, but the home attack continued to take plenty of tap in the face of more gung-ho batting.
With time already lost from the second Test and further interruptions forecast, Stokes opted to move the game along. He was immediately rewarded with a double-wicket burst from Anderson in the passage before lunch, and Leach then came to the fore as England whittled their way through a demoralised home line-up to leave them 103 for 7 shortly after the tea interval.
New Zealand's hopes of a fightback again rested with Tom Blundell, although Tim Southee swatted a couple of mighty sixes - his 77th and 78th, drawing him level with MS Dhoni on the all-time list - to push England back before the rain arrived 40 minutes into the evening session.
After Root's strokeplay set the early tone, England were soon in the ascendency with the ball. Anderson bent his fifth delivery past the outside edge of Conway; the initial appeal was muted but convictions quickly hardened and England's review revealed the presence of a thin outside edge. Kane Williamson was then guilty of an impetuous swipe in Anderson's third over, the former New Zealand captain nicking through to Ben Foakes to leave the home side 7 for 2.
Their position became 21 for 3 after the interval when Will Young was confounded by a scintilla of away movement and some extra bounce, the ball brushing his bottom glove to give Anderson a third. England had been on exactly the same score on the first morning, but although New Zealand also managed a recovery stand it was nowhere near the same magnitude.
Latham and Nicholls played in compact fashion, picking off boundaries whenever possible, and moved the score on to 60 before the former was given out caught off the wristband of the glove after aiming a reverse-sweep at Leach. Latham reviewed and was visibly disgruntled when Aleem Dar upheld Chris Gaffaney's on-field decision but replays were at best inconclusive.
A few overs later, Nicholls was gone playing the same stroke, no doubt this time as a top-edge deflected off his arm to be snapped up by Ollie Pope at short leg. Pope then produced a fine reflex catch at silly mid-off to account for Daryl Mitchell and give Leach his third on the stroke of tea, and Stuart Broad chipped in after the resumption when Michael Bracewell prodded a limp return catch.
England's platform had been set by the exploits of Brook and Root on day one, the fourth-wicket pair resuming a stand worth 294. Root rolled out his reverse-ramp in the second over of the day, depositing Southee for six over deep third, but Brook's fun was cut short in sight of a maiden double-century when he drilled a return catch to Henry, the bowler holding on at the second attempt.
Their association was already England's highest for any wicket in New Zealand, and contributed more than two-thirds of the eventual total as the innings threatened to fall away.
Stokes played to recent type with another frenetic innings, repeatedly looking to make room and slap the seamers over the off side. There were a couple of nicely timed boundaries to go with several miscues before he was dismissed for 27 off 28 balls, hacking Neil Wagner limply to mid-off.
Foakes might perhaps have been relied upon to bring a more sober approach to proceedings, but he was stumped in bizarre fashion in the following over, falling out of his crease against the offspin of Bracewell. Broad was lbw to Bracewell soon after, meaning England had lost 4 for 66 with the second new ball looming.
Root, having played second fiddle to Brook on Friday, was keen to unfurl his full range, and slog-swept Bracewell into the crowd before taking Southee for six and four with the new ball. Ollie Robinson played as many shots with only a fraction of the timing, but was badly dropped Blundell off Henry before plinking to mid-off next ball. Root then passed 150 with his sixth boundary of the session, before England walked off in order to get busy with the ball.
