Brook, Stokes, Carse put England firmly in control

Led by a massive 171 from Harry Brook, England scored 499 in their first innings after they were 71 for 4 at one stage as the visitors took complete control of the first Test in Christchurch. Brook was ably supported by Ben Stokes (80) and Ollie Pope (77) before cameos from Gus Atkinson (48 off 36) and Brydon Carse (33 off 24) gave the visitors a 151-run lead.

Chris Woakes and Carse carried England's momentum with the ball as they picked up three wickets apiece to leave New Zealand reeling at 155 for 6 at Stumps on Day 3. Kane Williamson (61) reached the 9000-run mark in Tests with the bat - the first New Zealand player to do so - and was the only batter for the hosts to convert his start while the rest of the batting order fell cheaply. New Zealand currently lead by four runs.

Brook and Stokes continued from where they left off overnight, the latter hitting a boundary in the first over to bring up the century stand between the two batters. The hosts remained sloppy in the field on Day 3 as well with Brook being dropped for the fifth time in his innings, this time on 147 at gully. New Zealand took the new ball immediately once it was due in overcast conditions but the English batters scored 36 runs in the next five overs, to go into the lead. This period of play saw Brook bring up his 150 with a boundary off veteran Tim Southee after dancing down the track and slapping the ball over extra cover. He hit Southee for 23 runs across his two overs. This was sandwiched by Stokes reaching his milestone of 50 as well.

Brook was finally caught behind as he tried to run one down to third-man, bringing an end to a wonderful innings and an enormous stand of 159 runs. Chris Woakes departed soon after as the hosts looked to have roared back into the contest with the lead only 33 runs at that stage. But Stokes and Gus Atkinson (48) frustrated the hosts with another stand of 63 runs during which time England crossed the 400 mark. Atkinson, who took few balls to get set in, soon started playing his shots with two fours and two sixes off the short ball while Stokes creamed a couple of drives through cover for four.

Stokes fell for 80 holing out to long-on. Brydon Carse came out playing his shots immediately with a boundary to get off the mark but he had a reprieve when Glenn Phillips dropped a skier at point. Carse made the most of it with three sixes and two streaky boundaries in his 24-ball 33 before Shoaib Bashir was caught by Southee at mid-wicket as England took a 151-run lead.

England continued to dominate New Zealand as they dismissed Tom Latham cheaply on 2. The New Zealand skipper closed his bat face early and Brook held onto a low catch at second slip. Devon Conway was dismissed on a single digit score for the seventh time this year, as he miscued a pull to mid-on which was taken by Atkinson. Williamson and Rachin Ravindra managed to take the hosts to Tea without further harm. The former riding on a sublime 93 in the first innings, played some lovely drives through cover and down the ground for fours. Soon after the Tea break, Ravindra couldn't resist a pull shot and hit it straight to Jacob Bethell at deep mid-wicket.

Williamson, looked at ease on the pitch which was on the placid side, played some stunning drives to the fence while Daryl Mitchell punished the over-pitched balls by Atkinson and brought out a reverse sweep for four off Bashir. The two batters targeted Bashir, who conceded 32 runs in his first four overs while Williamson reached his 37th Test 50.

As the hosts continued to bite into England's lead, Woakes came back to trap Williamson LBW on 61 with the star batter missing a straight delivery. Upon review, impact was umpire's call as Williamson failed to convert his 50 into a century for the second time in the Test. Tom Blundell's horrid form with the bat continued as he was dismissed first ball, increasing the pressure on him. Blundell has scored only one fifty in his last 18 innings and averages merely 15.88 with the bat during this time. Phillips and Mitchell took the hosts into the lead but the visitors struck once again to dismiss the former LBW, off the bowling of Carse. Nathan Smith and Mitchell played out the last three overs but New Zealand have an uphill task in front of them on Day 4.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348 (Kane Williamson 93, Glenn Phillips 58; Brydon Carse 4-64, Shoaib Bashir 4-69) & 155/6 (Kane Williamson 61, Daryl Mitchell 31*; Brydon Carse 3-22, Chris Woakes 3-39) lead England 499 (Harry Brook 171, Ben Stokes 80, Ollie Pope 77; Matt Henry 4-84, Nathan Smith 3-141) by 4 runs