Joe Root and Ben Stokes put on a 90-run partnership on a gripping third day at Lord's to give England hope of pulling off a huge victory in their first Test with New Zealand.
England were set a target of 277 for victory on Saturday and reached 216-5, helped by Root (77 not out) and Stokes (54), to leave them needing 61 runs on Sunday.
Stuart Broad helped spark England's fightback in the opening session, which was delayed by 30 minutes by rain, with the hosts taking three wickets in three balls.
Daryl Mitchell (108) was dismissed by Broad, shortly after reaching his second Test century, before Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson both went for golden ducks.
Tim Southee looked to keep the runs ticking over for New Zealand, but Tom Blundell was pinned lbw by James Anderson just four runs short of a century.
England maintained that momentum thanks to debutants Matt Potts and Matt Parkinson, who trapped Ajaz Patel (four) and caught Southee (21) at slip respectively.
That left England chasing a target of 277, but they were 99-4 at tea after losing Alex Lees (20), Zak Crawley (nine), Ollie Pope (10) and Jonny Bairstow (16) cheaply.
Jamieson was responsible for the quick wickets of Lees and Crawley, with the openers only able to put up a 31-run stand as the contest again swung back in the Kiwis' favour.
Pope, promoted to number three, was unable to make any significant inroads before being bowled by a Trent Boult beauty, with Bairstow next to fall to Jamieson.
That put the onus firmly on Root and Stokes, who did a good job of keeping New Zealand's bowlers at bay.
The resolve of Stokes, who was saved by a no-ball after chopping on to his own stumps from De Grandhomme on one run, eventually ended when snaffled by Blundell.
Root made it to 77 alongside Ben Foakes (nine) come the end of play, though, meaning England are still in with a big shot of victory heading into day four.
Kiwis collapse at Lord's
Blundell and Mitchell put on a 195-run partnership for New Zealand's fifth wicket. Either side of that, the tourists scored just 191 for 16.
The Kiwis lost their last six wickets for just 35 runs, in fact, opening the door for England to pounce.
Root on verge of milestone
Not for the first time, England's hopes of claiming victory on Sunday will likely come down to Root, who added 43 runs from 42 balls after the dismissal of Stokes.
He is now just 23 runs short of becoming the second England player after Alastair Cook to reach 10,000 and the 14th player overall in men's Tests.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
Foden: De Bruyne the best in the Premier League
Phil Foden hailed Manchester City team-mate Kevin De Bruyne as the Premier League's best player after the pair both netted in the 4-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
De Bruyne opened the scoring in Thursday's contest at Amex Stadium before Foden took over with a couple of goals of his own before half-time.
Julian Alvarez rounded off the scoring just after the hour in a one-sided contest as an Erling Haaland-less City moved to within a point of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Belgium international De Bruyne now has four goals and six assists in just 13 league appearances for City this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports News after the win over Brighton, Foden said: "I think when he is at it, he is the best player in the Premier League."
Foden's first goal came via a deflected free-kick that he himself won, although replays showed he slipped rather than being fouled.
The England international doubled his personal tally with a composed finish after Brighton were caught in possession at the back.
Asked about playing more centrally, Foden said: "I have always said that I see myself there. This year I have moved inside and it has helped me massively.
"I enjoy it in the middle. It's where I want to be. At the moment, I am just enjoying my football and playing with freedom."
De Bruyne had earlier opened the scoring with a brilliant opener - his first headed goal for City in the Premier League - as City made it 30 games unbeaten in normal time across all competitions.
Alvarez then went on to round off the scoring in a game that not only saw the reigning champions close the gap on Arsenal, but also narrow the goal difference margin to eight.
"It was a good game," De Bruyne said. "I think we played really good in the first half and every game is a lot of pressure. All we can do is prepare as we did today and win the game that is in front of us.
"We just want to win game-by-game and push for the title. We don't get ahead of ourselves. Now the next game is coming quickly. Try to recover and we go again."
Kyle Walker assisted the De Bruyne and Alvarez goals - the first time the defender has set up two goals in a single Premier League game in what was his 390th appearance in the competition.
Reflecting on his rare headed goal, De Bruyne said: "It doesn't happen too much. Kyle gave a good cross and I think the only way I could reach it is by jumping to it. I will take it but it's not something I am good at."
City have rather ominously won four Premier League games in a row and travel to strugglers Nottingham Forest next up at the weekend, knowing victory in their remaining five games will secure an unprecedented fourth straight title.
"I trust my team. All respect to Liverpool and Arsenal, they are amazing," De Bruyne added. "Arsenal are doing what they need to do and we are also needing to do it. Work hard and be humble enough to keep pushing."
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
