Tom Blundell frustrated England by making a magnificent century before New Zealand took two wickets under the lights on an enthralling day two of the first Test at Bay Oval.
The Black Caps were in trouble on 83-5 in reply to the tourists' 325-9 declared in Mount Maunganui, but Blundell made a Test-best 138 to get them up to 306 all out.
Devon Conway (77) also batted superbly after being dropped by Zak Crawley when he had only nine runs to his name on day one.
Blundell and Blair Tickner put on 59 for the final wicket before England closed on 79-2 in the day-night Test, leading by 98 after losing openers Ben Duckett and Crawley.
Neil Wagner hung around to make 27 after New Zealand resumed on 37-3 on Friday before falling to Stuart Broad, and the excellent Ollie Robinson (4-54) trapped Daryl Mitchell leg before without scoring.
Conway and Blundell combined for a 75-run stand, but the Black Caps were six down when the opener pulled Ben Stokes to Ollie Pope at square leg, and Jack Leach got in the act by removing Michael Bracewell.
Scott Kuggeleijn chipped in with 20 before Robinson cleaned up the debutant and sent Tim Southee on his way, so it was left for Tickner to dig in and enable Blundell to reach three figures.
Blundell's sublime knock was finally ended when he was caught and bowled by James Anderson (3-36), leaving the England batters a tricky period to bat late in the day.
Duckett (25) and Crawley (28) got starts but fell to Tickner and Kuggeleijn respectively. Broad had a life when Kuggeleijn and Blundell looked at each other rather than going for a catch after being sent in as a 'nighthawk', seeing it through to the close along with Ollie Pope.
Blundell ensures it is game on
England would have had a substantial lead but for an outstanding innings from Blundell.
He made a fourth Test hundred, having also scored a century against England at Trent Bridge last year.
The wicketkeeper-batter struck 19 fours and a six, spending just over three hours at the crease to keep his team in the game.
Anderson and Broad equal record
Anderson and Broad matched the record set by Australia legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath for the most successful bowling partnership in Test history.
The England duo have 1,001 wickets between them when playing together after taking one apiece on day two, and they will surely break new ground in this match.
IPL: KKR ease past SRH into IPL final
Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the Indian Premier League final after cruising to victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
A dominant KKR eased to an eight-wicket win with 38 balls remaining, with Mitchell Starc inspiring the victory.
The Sunrisers chose to bat first but were in unfamiliar territory at 13-2 inside two overs as Starc bowled Travis Head, who did not get a single run, before Andre Russell caught Abhishek Sharma.
Starc took two more wickets in his second over, finishing with 3-34 as the pick of KKR’s bowlers.
Pat Cummings ensured SRH did not finish with a sub-140 total, knocking 30 before being caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, as they set a target of 160.
Cummings then conceded 20 runs in his first over but eventually bounced out Sunil Narine for 21 after Gurbaz was caught for 23.
Venkatesh Iyer finished with an unbeaten 51 alongside Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with a 24-ball 58 to comfortably help KKR reach 164-2.
SRH will have another chance to make it to the final in the second qualifier where they will face either the Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.
Data Debrief: Playoff partners
The Iyers' 97 not out off 44 balls is the second-highest scoring partnership for KKR in the playoffs.
Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth's 33-run partnership is SRH's highest for the 10th wicket in IPL, breaking the record of 22 between Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar, but it was not enough to trouble KKR.
"Couldn’t be scripted better": King honoured to lead West Indies for the first time
Opener Brandon King will captain the West Indies for the first time when they take on South Africa in three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The 29-year-old has scored 1150 runs in 47 T20Is at an average of 28.04 since his debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in 2019.
Captaincy is not new for King as he most recently captained the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship after leading the Jamaica Tallawahs in last season’s Caribbean Premier League.
“Definitely,” was King’s response when asked about whether or not it is an honor to lead the regional side for the first time.
“It couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead the West Indies in any capacity and even more to do it at home so I’m very happy,” he added.
In addition to leading the Windies for the first time, King also expressed joy at getting to do it in his home country Jamaica.
“Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home. It’s good that we get some cricket in especially leading up to the world cup. It brings some excitement to the fans so I’m happy about it,” he said.
The squad recently had a training camp and King is looking forward to the squad getting an opportunity to get some match practice ahead of the world cup set for June 1-29.
“Match practice is something that you can’t replicate in training. We’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put those plans and skills in place so we’re very much looking forward to it,” he said.
Despite some regular squad members being missing from the squad due to the IPL playoffs, King says the players present are looking to implement some of the plans that many hope will lead to West Indian success at the world cup.
“A few of the guys aren’t here as yet but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group. We know how we want to play and the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes,” he said.
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
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