Harry Brook and Ollie Pope rode their luck to lead England’s fightback after New Zealand dismantled their top order on day two in Christchurch.
After bowling the Black Caps out for 348, the tourists were teetering on 71 for four in response after failing a stiff examination by the home seamers.
But Brook (54 not out) and Pope (59no) shored up England’s position with a century stand that took them to 174 for four at tea.
There were ducks for Zak Crawley and Joe Root, the latter making his landmark 150th appearance, and trial by fire for debutant Jacob Bethell, who was caught behind for 10 on his experimental outing at number three.
Brook in particular needed a couple of hefty slices of luck to play his part, badly dropped on 18 and 41.
Pope also had tricky moments as New Zealand continued asking difficult questions, but both batters landed plenty of blows of their own as they failed to go inside their shells.
England began the day searching for two more wickets and Brydon Carse snapped up both to finish with four for 64. He showed both sides of his game, having Tim Southee caught off a well-directed bouncer before castling Will O’Rourke with a punishing yorker.
Ball continued to dominate after change of innings, Crawley unable to get going as Matt Henry pinned him lbw for a 12-ball duck.
That meant an uncomfortably early arrival for 21-year-old Bethell, whose selection in the pivotal position of three – a position he had never previously batted in – brought plenty of raised eyebrows.
He took 13 deliveries to get off the mark and still had just a single to his name after 26. With the new ball zipping around he survived a stifled lbw appeal off his first delivery and another for a non-existent edge as he was beaten outside off.
The introduction of fellow debutant Nathan Smith brought him out of his shell, an authoritative pull for four and a sweet cut to the backward point boundary, showing his stroke-making quality.
But he soon lost the battle of the new blood, looking to block Smith in the channel but making a marginal misjudgment to edge behind.
There was a short wait as the umpires checked for a no-ball but there was no reprieve for Bethell.
Smith’s dream start got even better when, with just a few moments to go before lunch, he pushed Root on to the back foot and bowled him off bat and pad.
Ben Duckett had watched his team-mates tumble from the other end and only avoided joining them when he was put down at slip on 23. He hustled his way to 46 in the afternoon session, but over-committed against a short ball for O’Rourke bouncer, feeding a catch to fine-leg.
At 71 for four, England badly needed some stability but instead had to rely on handling errors to keep them afloat. Just nine balls later Brook cut Smith hard but straight to gully, where Glenn Phillips failed to hold on despite taking it square in the midriff.
Brook’s next scoring shot sailed worryingly close to backward square but skipped away for four and he picked up six more when he rocked back and lifted Henry into the ranks of camping chairs on the grass banks.
Runs and chances continued to flow, Brook given a second life on 40 when he slashed at Smith’s away swinger and Tom Latham fumbled it. Pope was also accumulating quickly but came within a few inches of diverting the luckless Smith into his stumps.
A handful of boundaries came between the slip cordon and the gully region but England kept their foot down, Brook first to fifty with a flat pulled six and Pope following close behind.