England, who gave a debut to Dom Sibley, won the toss in Tuaranga, and chose to bat first. And they got off to a decent start with Rory Burns and Sibley putting on 52 for the first wicket, until Sibley was out for 22, caught by Ross Taylor off the bowling of Colin de Grandhomme.
Burns and Joe Denly then added 61 for the second wicket until Burns, who had reached 53, was caught behind off de Grandhomme. The England captain, Joe Root, fell cheaply. Caught by Tim Southee off Neil Wagner, but Denly then combined with New Zealands nemesis, Ben Stokes, in a partnership of 83.
Denlys patient innings came to an end when he had made 74, caught behind off Southee, having hit six and 8 fours, but Stokes, who was 67 not out, and Ollie Pope, who was undefeated on 19, saw England through to stumps at 241 4.
Resuming on the second day, Stokes looked initially to be in control, but then advanced down the wicket to Trent Boult and was caught at first slip by Ross Taylor for 91. His partner Pope was similarly guilty of giving his wicket away, chasing a wide delivery from Southee and edging behind for 29. Sam Curran and Jofra Archer both fell cheaply, but Jos Buttler and Jack Leach added 52 for the 9th wicket, until Buttler fell for 43, caught by Mitchell Santner off Wagner. Last man out was Stuart Broad, bowled by Wagner, with Leach undefeated on 10. England had been bowled out for 353, with Southee taking 4 for 88 and Wagner 3 for 80.
In reply Tom Latham and Jeet Raval put on 18 before Latham was lbw to Curran, walking off without reviewing it despite replays showing that he had got a faint nick. Raval and Kane Williamson then put on 54 before Raval fell to a poor shot off Leach, caught by Denly for 18. Williamson and Taylor then added 34, but another poor shot from Taylor gifted his wicket to Stokes for 25, courtesy of a catch by Pope. And, just before the close of play England got the wicket they most wanted, Williamson caught by Stokes off Curran for 51, and New Zealand closed the day on 144 -4, trailing on first innings by 209 runs, with 6 wickets still standing.
Saturday though, belonged to the New Zealand batsmen, with just two wickets falling in the day. Henry Nicholls and BJ Watling added 53 until Nicholls missed a straight ball from Joe Root and was lbw for 41. Stokes dropped Watling on 31 and the miss proved expensive as Watling went on to make a century, sharing a stand of 119 for the sixth wicket with Colin de Grandhomme, until de Grandhomme was caught by Dom Sibley off Stokes for 65. However, BJ Watling was 119 not out at stumps, with Mitchell Santner undefeated on 31, as the Kiwis closed the day on 394 6, giving them a lead of 41 not out.
And the Kiwis really pressed home their advantage on the fourth day as Watling was joined by Santner to add a further 182 to their overnight score, before Santner fell for 124, caught by Pope off Curran. His innings featured 5 sixes and 11 fours. Tim Southee was caught and bowled by Leach, but Watling took his personal score to 205, before he fell nicking one behind off Jofra Archer, with a six and 24 fours to his name. Soon afterwards New Zealand called a close to their innings on 615/9, leaving them 262 in front.
And England struggled in their second innings, with Santner picking up three wickets before the close of play. Sibley was caught behind for 12, Burns caught by de Grandhomme, and night-watchman Leach caught by Latham.
At stumps on the fourth day England were 53-3, left with no option but to bat all day on the Monday to save the match.
However, their day got off to a bad start when Root was caught behind by Latham off de Grandhomme. Stokes and Denly then put on 52, but Stokes was bowled by Southee for 28, and Denly caught behind off Wagner for 35. In Wagners next over he had Pope caught by Santner, and then bowled Buttler for a duck. Curran and Archer delayed the inevitable with a partnership of 59 for the ninth wicket, but Archer was caught by a substitute fielder off Wagner, who next ball had Broad lbw as England were bowled out for 197.
Wagner finished with 5 for 44, and Southee 3 for 53.