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Ben Stokes is also round the wicket now, testing the New Zealand batters out with some short stuff.

He's frustrated though when he gets the line slightly wrong and the ball doesn't really get up, allowing Nathan Smith to punch into a big gap on the off side for two.

There is no shortage of gaps with the field set for short-pitched bowling and New Zealand are going along at nearly five and a half an over this morning as a result.

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With runs coming fairly freely for New Zealand, Brydon Carse changes the angle to round the wicket.

He sticks with the short stuff to Nathan Smith and the Kiwi all-rounder does well to fend off a well-directed bumper without offering a chance to short leg.

Kieran Parmley
Cricviz analyst

England have set up with a couple of catchers behind square on the leg side to start day four which has become a staple of Bazball bowling in flat conditions. Since the start of the 'Bazball' era they've taken 13 catches at leg slip, leg gully, short fine leg and short leg off pace bowlers. The next highest side on the list are New Zealand with just four.

Four more to the New Zealand total but this one is more of a genuine edge.

Daryl Mitchell pushes forward at Ben Stokes, nicks it but the ball goes between slip and gully again.

Not that close to going to hand and really, there hasn't been much in the way of scares for the hosts in these opening overs of the day.

Nathan Smith is quickly up and running on day four.

He drives nicely through mid-on for four when Brydon Carse overpitches and then guides a shorter ball between the one slip and gully for another boundary.

All useful runs for New Zealand at this point.

There is still very decent bounce in this track and that helps Ben Stokes find the edge second ball.

It goes towards gully but played with soft enough hands by Daryl Mitchell that it drops short of the fielder.

A couple of singles gets New Zealand going on day four and it will be Brydon Carse to bowl the next over.

The players are out in the middle and we're just about ready to go on day four.

England will want this done quickly and the captain has decided he is going to take the responsibility first up.

Ben Stokes bowled only two overs yesterday but we've seen what he is capable of with the ball plenty of times in years gone by...

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England bowler Chris Woakes, speaking to TNT Sports, on his wickets yesterday: "When an over comes together like that, it takes loads of planning. When the ball's going fairly straight like it was, you need to try and find something in the surface and the ball was going for me."

Thoughts ahead of today's session: "I wish it was quickly. Test cricket is always hard, we’ll do our best to end it quickly but we'll see what happens today, hopefully we can contain them and wrap it up soon."

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Chief Cricket Commentator

I am delighted for Chris Woakes. It's always tempting to look at him when he has a wicketless first innings overseas and think 'here we go again, Woakes can bowl at home but he's hopeless away from home'.

His record away is not good, but I watched him bowl away and in the first innings he did not bowl well.

You have to change your length in different countries and different conditions and it takes a while to get there.

It's why you need to have warm-up games - for bowlers to get used to the different ball, and get their length right on different surfaces. The way he bowled in the second innings will have perked him up.

Ben Stokes certainly played his part with the bat, along with Harry Brook and Ollie Pope in particular.

With the ball it was Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse who did the damage, taking three wickets apiece.

Those wickets will mean a lot to Woakes especially after he went wicketless in the first innings to bring talk of his struggles away from home back with a vengeance.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport chief cricket reporter in Christchurch

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On his return to Christchurch, Ben Stokes cannot have dreamed New Zealand would be so hospitable.

England have the first Test by the scruff of the neck thanks largely to a very un-Kiwi-like performance.

The home side were wasteful with the bat in their first innings, then shambolic with their catching. Eight drops. England have the upper hand, New Zealand butter fingers.

Stokes was the beneficiary of perhaps the worst drop of the lot, a complete goober by opposite number Tom Latham at short cover when the England skipper had 30.

He went on to make 80. Although he missed out on a fairytale century in the city of his birth, this was a Stokesian step in the right direction.

Read more here.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Chief Cricket Commentator

New Zealand have had a poor game after getting such a big build up, largely based on what they did in India. All those dropped catches and poor batting.

We wanted to see England play this way and when they are given an opportunity make the most of it, not squander it. They have nailed down chances.

That's right, we arrive at this fourth morning with England in a commanding position in the first Test.

Having racked up 499 for a first-innings lead of 151, they reduced New Zealand to 155-6 by stumps on day three.

All of which means the Black Caps are have a lead of just four with four wickets remaining.

There is the potential for this match to be over very quickly - but the Christchurch pitch is increasingly good for batting so that is by no means a guarantee...

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Day four at the Hagley Oval is almost upon us and if England have their way, there will be no need for a day five...