New Zealand end Prior's fight and keep control

Tea England 176 for 6 (Root 37*, Broad 0*) trail New Zealand 443 by 267 runs

Apart from losing wickets, England struggled for fluency: Nick Compton's 13 occupied just two minutes short of two hours © Getty Images

New Zealand claimed only one wicket in the session but remained on course for a series victory against England in the afternoon session of the third day of the third Test in Auckland.

While New Zealand were held up by a stubborn sixth-wicket partnership of 101 in 42.3 overs between Matt Prior and Joe Root, the wicket of Prior the over before the new ball was due tightened New Zealand's grip on the game. At tea England, on 176 for 6, were still 267 runs behind New Zealand and some way from the follow-on target of 244.

Root remained at the crease but had scored just 37 from 156 balls and, like the rest of the England batsmen, had not been able to replicate Prior's fluency.

New Zealand, dismissed as no-hopers by some in the run-up to this series, are currently at No. 8 in the Test rankings. But they have looked the better side for significant portions of this encounter and now have an excellent opportunity to embarrass the No. 2 rated team. New Zealand have previously only beaten England at home in one Test series, in 1983-84, and away in two: in 1986 and in 1999.

New Zealand made deep inroads in the first session of the day. Generating swing that was non-existent for England's much-vaunted attack, they claimed three lbw decisions in the session to leave England teetering on 92 for 5 at the interval, having scored only 42 runs in 29 overs in the session.

The pitch had not deteriorated. It was simply that New Zealand's seamers bowled a little fuller, a little straighter and gained a little more swing than England. In short, they have bowled better. Bruce Martin, who came into this series largely unknown outside New Zealand, has generated turn that Monty Panesar, his left-arm counterpart, could not and has looked a far more threatening proposition.

At least Prior and Root showed some resistance in the afternoon. Prior, who came to the crease with his side reeling at 72 for 5, produced an increasingly fluent innings that briefly threatened to revive his side's hopes. Cautious initially, Prior took a far more positive approach after lunch, skipping down the pitch to drive the left-arm spin of Bruce Martin through and over the off side on numerous occasions and, when given some width, freeing his arms to drive the seamers through the covers.

His strength was his undoing, however. Offered some width from Neil Wagner, Prior attempted to drive on the up but could only slice a thick edge to point where Hamish Rutherford held on to the chance.

Dean Brownlie could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief. Brownlie, at slip, had reprieved Prior on 24 when the batsman had pushed hard at one outside off stump from the deserving Tim Southee and edged low to Brownlie's right. Had the chance been taken, England would have been 111 for 6.

Earlier Southee broke through in the third over of the morning. Having swung the ball away from the right-hand batsmen, he saw one go straight on and strike Nick Compton on the pad. While the umpire, Paul Reiffel, declined the original appeal on the grounds that the ball may well have hit the bat before hitting the pad, New Zealand were quick to call for a review that showed the ball had made first contact with the pad.

Ian Bell went in similar fashion. Bell, who had come close to running himself out in the second over of the day, diving to regain his ground after committing to an unnecessarily risky second run, was also undone by one that went straight on from Southee. Perhaps intimidated by the aggressive field utilised by New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum - there were times when New Zealand's seamers had five slips - Bell looked unwilling to commit to playing at the ball and was caught in the crease when struck on the pad. He conferred with his batting partner, Root, before deciding not to utilise the Decision Review System. It was a wise decision.

Trent Boult claimed the final wicket of the morning session. Boult, who had claimed two wickets the previous evening, beat Jonny Bairstow's tentative forward prod with one that pitched on middle stump and swung back just enough to beat the stroke. Again, the original appeal was declined but New Zealand utilised the DRS and were rewarded for their confidence. If Bairstow had looked somewhat out of form, it was hardly a surprise: this was his first innings in first-class cricket since the Mumbai Test in November.

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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