Lunch England 354 and 191 for 7 (Smith 47*, Archer 0*) need a further 182 runs to beat New Zealand 438 and 288 for 9 dec (Mitchell 100*, Ravindra 94)

Realistically, so too was the prospect of batting out for the draw, an approach that England haven’t once contemplated in the course of Ben Stokes’ four-year tenure as captain. Nevertheless, New Zealand’s bowling attack was feeling the strain by the break, too. Ben Sears was nursing a broken index finger after being struck while batting, while Will O’Rourke, himself with a nasty cut on his index finger courtesy of a Stokes straight drive on the fourth evening, limped out of the attack mid-over with an apparent hamstring niggle.

Not for the first time in this match, however, England were unable to capitalise on these glimmers of vulnerability. After the chaotic start to their innings on Sunday night, in which Stokes’ valedictory innings of 30 from 20 balls had presaged the loss of four wickets inside seven overs, England resumed on this fifth morning with the more staid pairing of Emilio Gay (relegated to No. 6) and Root – perhaps the most likely pairing to instigate a rearguard.

Instead, the clatter of wickets continued with unseemly haste. Gay was harassed throughout Nathan Smith’s opening over, beaten outside off by three different varieties of seaming delivery, including a brutal lifter that climbed past his gloves. The first ball of Smith’s second over was perfection; full length, swinging away late and kissing the edge of Gay’s bat for Tom Blundell to complete another excellent low take.

Before the over was out, England were in utter disarray. Smith had yet to score when he stabbed his fourth ball with high hands out to point, and called Root through for the single. Henry Nicholls slid round from backward point, lost his balance as he gathered cleanly, yet still managed to unleash a pinpoint shy while tumbling backwards, to beat Root’s stretch by a foot.

New Zealand were cock-a-hoop, and at 116 for 6, humiliation beckoned for an England team that, incredibly, has never yet lost a three-match series at home in which they have won the first match of the rubber.

The remainder of the session, however, didn’t quite pan out so swimmingly for the visitors. Soon afterwards, O’Rourke felt his hamstring – and was replaced mid-over by Zak Foulkes, once again performing the substitute role after replacing the concussed Blair Tickner earlier in the match.

Santner entered the attack in the 11th over of the morning, and though he soon produced a delivery that ragged a massive 10.2 degrees past Atkinson’s outside edge, his rust was also apparent in his first extended red-ball outing since New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe last August.

Smith took some lumps out of his analysis with three fours and a big launch for six back down the ground. But by degrees, Santner found his range, and with five minutes to go before the break, he landed a perfect slider into Atkinson’s pads, plumb in front of middle and off. The session ended with five New Zealand fielders camped under Jofra Archer’s nose, and a subdued, free entry crowd, braced for the inevitable.