England in control on day two as New Zealand wickets tumble

After Joe Root scored the 14th daddy hundred of his Test career, James Anderson and Jack Leach set about dismantling New Zealand's defences, reducing the home side to 138 for 7 before the rain set in

Wellington (day two of five): England 435-8d, New Zealand 138-7 - New Zealand trail by 297 runs with three first-innings wickets in hand

Scorecard

New Zealand are staring down the barrel of a hefty first-innings deficit after slumping to 138 for 7 in pursuit of 435 on day two.

James Anderson and Jack Leach picked up three wickets apiece while there was also one for Stuart Broad before rain once again curtailed the evening session.

Earlier, Joe Root scored the 14th daddy hundred of his Test career to help England declare on 435 for 8.

Resuming on 315 for 3, Root, who had been content to play second fiddle to Harry Brook on day one, had the crowd on their feet after just 10 deliveries, reverse scooping Tim Southee for six.

However, while he and Brook did extend their fourth-wicket partnership beyond the 300-mark, it didn't take long for New Zealand to make a breakthrough. After adding two runs to his overnight total, Brook smacked a straight drive back to Matt Henry, who gathered the ball at the second attempt to remove the batter for 186 – Brook's dad's family record of 210 remains intact, for now.

^{Matt Henry was the pick of New Zealand's bowlers [Phil Walter/Getty Images]}

^{Joe Root finished unbeaten on 153 [Phil Walter/Getty Images]}

Ben Stokes was in no mood to hang around, dispatching a flurry of boundaries to carry England past 350, but he took on one delivery too many and hacked a short ball from Neil Wagner to substitute fielder, Scott Kuggeleijn.

Six balls later, Ben Foakes departed for a calamitous duck, tumbling to the ground after getting his spikes stuck to present Tom Blundell with the simplest of stumpings: England 363 for 6.

Root continued his charge in the company of Stuart Broad and later Ollie Robinson, who chipped in with 18 runs off 29 balls, before bringing up his 150 with a boundary in the 88th over. By this point, however, Brendon McCullum and Stokes had long been plotting England's declaration and this proved to be the final act of the innings, with Root finishing unbeaten on 153 off 224 deliveries.

With 30 minutes remaining in the session, New Zealand would have hoped to make it to lunch with 10 wickets in hand but Anderson and Foakes had other ideas, combining twice in the opening five overs to remove Devon Conway and Kane Williamson.

Will Young became the pair's third victim early in the second session as New Zealand were reduced to 21 for 3, the same position England were in early on day one, before beginning to rebuild through Henry Nicholls, who settled quickly with a trio of boundaries off Anderson, and a resolute Tom Latham.

^{Ollie Pope removes Henry Nicholls [Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images]}

^{Jack Leach picked up three wickets [Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images]}

Together they added 39 runs (71 balls) for the fourth wicket before departing in quick succession to Leach.

Latham was adjudged to have gloved the ball to Root in the slips and was aggrieved when third umpire Aleem Dar couldn't find any conclusive evidence to overturn the decision; Nicholls edged a needless sweep and was caught by a sprawling Ollie Pope at short leg.

Pope took another smart catch to account for Daryl Mitchell off the final delivery of the session and things only went from bad to worse when play resumed, with Bracewell popping a simple caught and bowled back to Broad to leave New Zealand seven down.

Blundell, batting stubbornly at No.7, and the ever-expressive Southee refused to surrender and their eighth-wicket stand was gaining momentum when a persistent drizzle set in around 3.45am. No further play was possible, with stumps called an hour later.