Stuart Broad rips through the New Zealand top order, taking 4 for 21, to leave the hosts' record chase of 394 in tatters
Bay Oval (third day of five): England 325-9d & 374, New Zealand 306 & 63-5 - New Zealand need 331 more runs to win with five second-innings wickets remaining
Stuart Broad produced a vintage spell under lights to move England to the precipice of victory over New Zealand in the first Test at Bay Oval.
Broad claimed 4 for 21 in a 10-over spell which leaves the tourists five wickets away from going 1-0 ahead in the series.
Devon Conway (2), Kane Williamson (0), Tom Latham (15) and first-inning centurion Tom Blundell (1) were all bowled during a sensation performance with the pink ball.
Ollie Robinson dismissed Henry Nicholls (7) to leave the Black Caps' pursuit of a record 394 to win in complete tatters.
Entertaining hitting from Harry Brook (54), Joe Root (57) and Ollie Pope (49) helped England establish a handsome lead during the afternoon and early evening before Broad took centre stage.
It was a sobering afternoon for Neil Wagner (Phil Walter/Getty Images)
They plundered 158 runs in 25.1 overs during the afternoon session to extend their lead to 256. The aforementioned trio lashed 20 boundaries comprising 14 fours and half a dozen sixes between them as the hosts, competitive for large swathes of this contest, wilted in perfect batting conditions.
Evergreen seamer Neil Wagner took the majority of the punishment, finishing the day with 2 for 110 from 13 overs.
A spate of late wickets in the session did keep the hosts in the contest. The 36-year-old Wagner picked up the wicket of Pope, who had earlier heaved him over deep square for three sixes, one short of a 12th Test fifty.
Root and Brook continued the assault, the latter being the chief enforcer. The Yorkshire youngster pumped the 34th over from Wagner for three fours and a six as a policy of short-pitched bowling failed to produce results.
The pair both reached fifty in the 36th over, part of an 81-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 65 balls. It was only when New Zealand returned to bowling line and length that the breakthrough came, as Brook edged Blair Tickner to Daryl Mitchell in the slips.
Foakes, rather than captain Ben Stokes, was the new batter at the crease and as the scoring rate slowed in the concluding overs before the interval Root was dismissed reverse sweeping for the second time in the Test, feathering Michael Bracewell through to Mitchell.
Stokes (31) did eventually emerge but it was a relatively short stint at the crease, which ended not before he broke Brendon McCullum's record for the most sixes in Test cricket.
He struck two maximums off Scott Kuggeleijn - the second of which was taken over the boundary by Wagner, scenes reminiscent of Trent Boult treading on the boundary sponge during the 2019 World Cup final - to take his career tally to 109.
Upon marching down the pitch to Bracewell he was stumped by Blundell to give New Zealand hope of starting their second innings while batting conditions were at their best in the late afternoon. Despite taking three wickets for 68 runs in 15.2 overs, however, it was a false dawn for the World Test Championship holders.
England, themselves clearly with half a mind on taking the new ball under lights, played with a degree of caution. Foakes struck just five boundaries during a well-paced, watchful 51 from 80 deliveries, his fourth Test half-century, in an eighth-wicket partnership worth 42 with Ollie Robinson (39).
Stokes broke McCullum's all-time record for the most Test sixes during his innings (Phil Walter/Getty Images)
The Surrey wicketkeeper was dismissed as Tickner claimed his third wicket via a feathered edge through to Tom Blundell.
Jack Leach (12) held firm, soaking up 40 deliveries as Wagner returned, and when England were eventually bowled out for 374 they appeared to hold all the aces.
New Zealand needed their biggest score to win a Test, the 324 for 5 against Pakistan in February 1994 remains the watermark, and though they saw off the opening three overs without too much reason for alarm their problems soon started to mount.
Broad beat Conway through the gate as the opener looked to drive straight down the ground, and then dismissed Williamson, who failed to get past single figures for the second time in the Test, with a peach.
Robinson made Nicholls his fifth victim of the Test (MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)
Latham was put down by Zak Crawley but four balls later the Notts quick made amends, cracking the top of his off stump. Robinson got in on the action, catching the edge of Nicholls and when Broad struck again in his seventh over to see off Blundell England were sensing victory inside three days.
But the hosts showed a snippet of the resolve they will require bucketloads of if they are to stand any chance of avoiding a heavy defeat. Daryl Mitchell (13 not out) and Bracewell (25) put on an unbeaten 35 for the sixth wicket to delay what feels inevitable.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.