Fascinating Basin Reserve contest set for grand finale after New Zealand fight back

New Zealand's batters frustrated England for the first two sessions on day four before a maiden Test wicket for Harry Brook opened the floodgates

Wellington (day four of five): England 435-8d & 48-1, New Zealand 209 & 483 (f/o) - England require 210 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand

England require 210 runs to seal a 2-0 series win after toiling away for 162.3 overs on day four to capture New Zealand's remaining second-innings wickets.

For the first two sessions, the hosts frustrated England's bowlers, with a century from Kane Williamson and half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell helping to extend their lead beyond the 200-mark.

However, Harry Brook picked up his first Test wicket shortly after tea to remove Williamson, prompting a collapse from 455 for 5 to 483 all out.

England will resume on 48 for 1 on the final day after squeezing in 11 overs.

Trailing by 24 runs at the start of the day, Henry Nicholls departed early after edging Ollie Robinson into the slips. After juggling the ball, Brook gathered the catch at the fourth attempt.

Mitchell's introduction, however, changed the complexion of the match, with New Zealand's No.6 injecting some impetus into his side's innings with a display of combative batting.

^{Daryl Mitchell scored a brisk half-century [Phil Walter/Getty Images]}

^{Kane Williamson became New Zealand's leading Test run-scorer [Phil Walter/Getty Images]}

With five fours and one six, he brought up his half-century off 52 balls in the 107th over and the sight of Stuart Broad valiantly throwing himself around in the deep rather defined the session.

Williamson, meanwhile, picked up exactly where he'd left off on day two, grittily resisting England's advances and steadily accumulating runs. He scored the necessary runs to overhaul Ross Taylor as New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer and later survived a tight stumping decision when on 45 before bringing up a half-century of his own off 148 deliveries.

England finally made a breakthrough with 30 minutes to go before lunch, Mitchell taking on one delivery too many and top-edging a short delivery from Broad to Joe Root to depart for a run-a-ball 54.

Blundell followed Mitchell's lead, making an aggressive 19 (24) to send New Zealand into lunch with a lead of 99 and he and Williamson continued to demoralise England until after tea, putting on 158 runs off 271 balls for the sixth wicket.

A four off the bowling of Broad in the 132nd over brought up Blundell's fifty (80 balls) and four overs later, after spending a while on 99, Williamson raised his bat for his 26th Test century.

^{Jack Leach picked up a deserved five-for [Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images]}

^{Tom Blundell scored 90 off 166 to frustrate England [Phil Walter/Getty Images]}

A few chances did present themselves – James Anderson dropped a tough chance to remove Blundell on 30 while Robinson failed to pick up a wild hack from the same batter – but despite their efforts, England's bowlers received no reward. Anderson best encapsulated England's mood when he ended up cross-legged on pitch, his face the picture of exhaustion.

With both Anderson and Broad off the field after tea, Stokes was forced to introduce Brook into the attack and the medium pacer struck in his third over in Test cricket to remove Williamson for 132 (282). A faint edge from the former skipper was collected by Ben Foakes and successfully reviewed, much to England's delight.

Foakes was at the heart of the action once again a few overs later, combining with Stokes to casually run out Michael Bracewell, who had failed to ground his bat despite being well in.

Tim Southee couldn't repeat his first-innings heroics, picking out sub fielder Matthew Potts off Leach, and three balls later, Matt Henry top-edged the ball straight to Root in the slips. The pair combined again two overs later to dismiss Blundell for 90 (166), Leach completing a well-deserved five-for in the process.

Devon Conway could have removed Zak Crawley in the third over of England's chase, narrowly missing a shy at the stumps with the opener well out of his ground after being turned down for a single and slipping on his return. He responded by making a swift 24 (30) before being bamboozled by a fine delivery from Southee.

Ben Duckett (23 off 29) and Robinson (1 off 7), promoted to No.3, saw England safely to stumps without further incident.