New Zealand are in the driving seat against England after the end of the third day of the first test in Dunedin after the hosts went on to post a total of 402/7 to lead Alistair Cook's side by 235 runs.

England would have been hoping to bounce back after a disasterous first innings which saw them dismissed for just 167 but the Kiwis pressed home their advantage with skipper Brendon McCullum (44) and Bruce Martin (17) still at the crease after the end of the day's play.

Hamish Rutherford
Reuters

Black Caps debutant Hamish Rutherford was the star for McCullum's side on the third day as he sealed his maiden test century during the first session. The opener showed few nerves in first international test match before finally being dismissed for 171 by James Anderson.

The England bowler finally got his man with a ball outside the leg stump which was misread by the debutant and he chipped the easiest of catches to substitute Chris Woakes, who was in the midwicket.

The visitors got the first break through of the day when Kiwi opener Peter Fulton managed to add nine more runs to his overnight tally of 46.before being dismissed by Anderson for 55. England then picked up the wicket of Kane Williamson (24) before lunch as New Zealand ended the first session with 255/2 on the scoreboard.

England bounced back in the later part of the day as Rutherford's dismissal led to a burst of wickets but the Black Caps kept the scoreboard ticking over. Ross Taylor (31), Dean Brownlie (27) and Tim Southee (25) chipped in at the end for the Kiwis but BJ Watling (0) failed to open the account as he became Stuart Broad's first victim of the match.

Anderson was the most successful of the English bowlers as he ended the third day with 4/108 but England will have an uphill task on the fourth day in order to save the test and will be hoping for a much better showing from their top order batsmen.

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