Tim Southee said New Zealand had not given up on the possibility of forcing victory at Lord's, despite a day being lost to rain. The visiting side have made the running in the first Test, with Southee's six-wicket haul helping them to a 103-run lead, but England were kept afloat by a battling hundred from Rory Burns.
Southee picked up five of the eight England wickets to fall on the fourth day, claiming a spot on the Lord's honours board for the second time in his career. However, Burns' efforts in compiling 132 from 297 balls helped repel New Zealand after they reduced England to 140 for 6 - still more than 200 in arrears - during the morning session.
New Zealand needed to force the pace, and were immediately up and running when Kyle Jamieson found the outside edge of England captain Joe Root with his opening delivery. Burns and Root had lifted England from trouble on day two, before rain further checked New Zealand's advance on Friday but, following Jamieson's breakthrough, an inspired spell from Southee saw three wickets fall without addition to the score.
Burns then dug in to add a valuable 63-run stand with Ollie Robinson, and another 52 for the last wicket alongside James Anderson - although he could have been stumped on 77 and was dropped at slip on 88.
"Yeah, with the wicket of Joe Root from the first ball of the day, we probably couldn't ask for a better start," Southee said. "It was a dream start to take those early wickets but we knew there was going to be a counterpunch from England at some stage, they're too good a side just to roll over.
"Their lower order, especially Robinson, played a nice hand there, and Jimmy hanging around with Burns at the end, putting on over 50, blunted our attack towards the end. But I think if we'd turned up at the start of the day and been told we're gonna walk off in the position we're in now we'd have been pretty happy.
"Losing yesterday doesn't help, but there's 98 overs tomorrow and it's always great to turn up on the last day with all results possible. Who knows what may happen but it's great to be in a position where we can push on. You play to win Test matches for your country and a Test win at Lord's would be pretty special, so I'd imagine we'll chat overnight, get together as a side and come up with a plan for day five."
Jamieson, who bagged three wickets, wasn't too harsh on his team-mates for giving Burns a couple of chances and concurred with Southee on going for the win.
"Ideally you want to take those chances; games don't always pan out perfectly the way you want them to," Jamieson said after the day's play. "I certainly don't believe that there's time taken from the game in terms of us not being able to push for a win. We're still ahead in this game. I guess we have the ability to control how this game is set up in the first session tomorrow and probably having that rest on day three, everyone's ready to go for tomorrow and we'll certainly push for a win, that's for sure.
"It's a couple of sessions and there's a Test victory on the line, I have no doubt that all of us will be pushing as hard as we can and just see that we get through. There's nothing guaranteed if you bring that attitude but without a doubt we'll certainly be bringing that, that's for sure."
New Zealand were missing Southee's regular new-ball partner Trent Boult for this match, but have had more than enough firepower to keep England in check. Southee's figures of 6 for 43 bettered the 6 for 50 he claimed at Lord's in 2013, and he may yet have the chance to help his side push for a first win on the ground this century.
"Any time you contribute to the side and do your job it's very satisfying, and I guess it's that little bit sweeter when you do it at such a special ground like Lord's," he said. "It was a nice day today, and looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow at some stage."
Playing his seventh Test and his first outside New Zealand, Jamieson said he had learnt a lot from Southee, who was playing his 78th, about specific skills and the workings of Test cricket at a broader level.
"I think just around the ebbs and flows of Test cricket," Jamieson said. "Like we've spoken a lot around skills like wrist position, moving the ball, when to come wide of the crease. We're always having conversations around the tactical side of the game. But it's just an understanding of how Test cricket works. When you've played 70-odd Tests, you learn how Test cricket tends to flow and when there's times when things don't happen as quickly and as good and about staying patient and on the opposite end of the spectrum when things are happening and you put the hammer down. So those intricacies around the flow of Test cricket is the biggest thing for me."
0410 GMT: The story was updated with Kyle Jamieson's quotes after an embargo