The entire morning session washed out. Shoaib Bashir bowling 31 overs on the bounce. Ben Stokes limping off. Harry Brook taking the second new ball.
England's backroom staff joining chants for Tim Southee with the fall of each New Zealand wicket. Tim Southee failing to add the two sixes needed for 100 in Tests.
Matt Henry dismissing Zak Crawley for a sixth time. Crawley then giving umpire Adrian Holdstock a spray. England 18 for 2 at stumps chasing a comical target of 658.
That, in a nutshell, was day three. Most of it anyway. Things that somehow written out seem far more compelling than when they actually happened. Which is sort of the opposite of sport. And a lot of this was anti-sport. Uncompetitive, unremarkable, and at times unbecoming.
New Zealand, as was their right, shoved England's faces into the dust, seeking retribution for the previous shellackings at Christchurch and Wellington. The series has been lost, but revenge has no shelf life. Never has Hamilton seemed more bereft of options for visiting Englishmen than Monday at Seddon Park.
But in among the borderline nonsense and tedium was Kane Williamson's 33rd Test century. On the face of it, it was a low-stakes 156, even littered with typical Williamson class. Resuming on 50 - New Zealand already leading by 340 - breezing to a fifth consecutive hundred on this ground 79 deliveries after the 1:30pm start. He reached three figures with what was, for him, a simple straight six off Jacob Bethell, who had replaced Stokes following his hamstring injury. He probably should have been LBW to Brydon Carse on 73, could have been caught on 80 and probably should have been caught on 86.
It was by no means clean or crisp, and certainly not as competitive as most of Williamson's hundreds. But it still felt out of place on a day of junk-food Test cricket, like a homemade gherkin in a microwaveable burger. And yet at the same time, it might have been the perfect place for what could be Williamson's last innings in New Zealand whites.
Not that he is the type to make such a pronouncement. Nor muscle in on someone else's party. All being well, Southee's one-man farewell tour should come to an end tomorrow, which suits Williamson just fine.
"Well, the ground announcers kept us well aware," he joked after play, alluding to the constant reminders that this was Southee's 107th and final Test. "He's had a number of guards of honour!" You got the sense Williamson, 105 caps of his own, was embarrassed by the fuss on his mate's behalf.
Like Southee, there is a sentimental attachment to this ground for Williamson. It was where he learned his trade and applied it, initially for Northern Districts before his country came calling. And it is hard not to acknowledge the neatness that a career which began with a century in its first innings - against India in Ahmedabad - could be bookended by another 15 years later in its 186th.
There is no rush, of course. New Zealand's next Test assignment is a two-match series in July against Zimbabwe. It is a gap Williamson is all too aware of, and there is a sense it would not be out of character for a reserved character happy with his lot to bow out when the lights are low, despite the fact his is a career deserving of great fanfare.
With plenty of white-ball cricket on the horizon - international and franchise - Williamson does not feel pressed to make a decision. He also stopped short of making any guarantees.
"It's so far away at the moment," said Williamson on whether he would be around for the Zimbabwe series. "I'm just focussing on right now and getting through the rest of the summer really. There's a bunch of different cricket coming up, and Champions Trophy obviously, which is exciting. Yeah, just see how it goes...
"I love Test cricket. As you mention, there's not a huge amount of it for some time, such is the schedule."
Turning down a central contract from New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the 2024-25 cycle and relinquishing the white-ball captaincy implies the end is nigh. But even at 34, there is a desire to push on his game, regardless of the format.
After missing the historic 3-0 sweep of India with a hamstring injury, his build-up for this series was no less intense. The fortnight before the series was used to groove and build up intensity. First in the Plunkett Shield - striking 60 for Northern Districts against Auckland - before more intense work with trusted, long-term coaches in the week leading up to the first Test.
Three fifty-plus scores, incuding this century, sees Williamson finish with 395 runs at 65.83. He is currently the clubhouse leader for the series, with Harry Brook needing more than 46 runs to take that from him. For just the second time in Williamson's career, he has ended a calendar year with over a thousand runs, in part because there has been more Test cricket available to him.
"You just try and do your bit for the team," was his typically self-effacing assessment of 2024, in which he missed three matches but still played nine. With only five to come next year - thanks to the addition of a match to next summer's series against West Indies - 2025 feels a lot more subdued. And at this stage of Williamson's career, he will have to weigh up whether putting himself through the long-format grind for those challenges is worth his while.
It was at 5:10pm that he was dismissed, having swept Bashir to Rehan Ahmed at backward square leg. A standing ovation came - the lead now 531 - in familiar fashion, whoops among the heavy applause, before brows furrowed and sighs were sighed as Tom Blundell made his way to the middle.
"Where's Southee?!" bellowed a Black Caps supporter from the stands at the newly christened Tim Southee End. Meanwhile, Williamson slinked off into the home dressing-room and out of sight.