Off the fourth ball after lunch, Fleming dropped Hussain, low to his left off Nathan Astle's bowling.

Fleming was clearly upset with his failure but had the pain relieved off the first ball of Daryl Tuffey's next over when Mark Ramprakash had a ball keep low. He also played inside it and it took his off stump to see him out for two. England were six down for 155.

But Hussain kept taking the attack to the bowlers and found a consistent partner in wicket-keeper James Foster. Some spanking straight drives for boundaries ensured Hussain kept England hopes alive as New Zealand sought what must surely be the series-tying breakthrough.

There was one significant milestone for Hussain when he reached 76. He scored his 4000th Test run, the 23rd Englishman to achieve the feat.

At the drinks break in the afternoon session, England had made it to 200/6 with Hussain on 77 and Foster on 23.

Foster suffered an uncomfortable moment when a ball from Adams flew by his chin forcing him to jerk his head back and he ended in an undignified heap on the ground. A few balls later he had an inside edge from Adams sneak just over middle stump and go all the way to the boundary for four.

After England set off for the 312 required for victory on an Indian summer's day in Auckland, the New Zealand bowlers cashed in big time to have England 154/5 at lunch.

Captain Nasser Hussain is fighting a lone hand, with only the injured Mark Ramprakash left of the recognised batsmen. He hit his half century just before the break off 60 balls, and it included seven fours and a six. Three successive fours off Tuffey saw him go to lunch on 58 not out with Ramprakash on two.

Ramprakash has a runner as he has a groin strain.

Nathan Astle proved the innings breaker for New Zealand when capturing the wicket of Mark Butcher from a ball which spat from the pitch at him and lobbed high to point where substitute fieldsman Brooke Walker raced in to take the catch.

Once he'd prised open the gap, the New Zealand bowlers raced through.

Graham Thorpe, a key player, was dropped by Walker off the second ball he faced. Walker dived low to his right and got the ball but it dropped out.

Thorpe got to the other end and faced up to Tuffey, who got a faint edge to a ball moving slightly away from him. Umpire Doug Cowie was sufficiently convinced and he was on his way for three, a key wicket for New Zealand and England were 125/4.

Two balls later Andrew Flintoff, who came in next, before the injured Mark Ramprakash, lasted only two balls. Tuffey got a ball through his defences to bowl him off his pads for a duck. England were 125/5, the run rate had slowed from the breakneck speed of earlier and England's cruise towards victory was moving towards the refuge of a safe harbour draw.

Hussain did survive a hard chance off Astle's bowling when on 32. He was dropped, a hard chance to wicket-keeper Adam Parore standing up off a fine edge.

Earlier, when taking the catch off Thorpe, Parore became the latest member of wicket-keeping's 200 Club. Ahead of him are: Ian Healy (395), Rod Marsh (355), Jeffrey Dujon (270), Alan Knott (269), Wasim Bari (228), Godfrey Evans (219), Mark Boucher (200).

Tuffey went to lunch with two for 51, Drum two for 47 and Astle one for 10.

When Marcus Trescothick hit the first ball of the innings for four runs, and they never stopped coming during the first half of the morning session.

When drinks were taken after 75 minutes, England were 84/2 with Mark Butcher 25 not out and Nasser Hussain five not out. Chris Drum had two for 30.

Michael Vaughan, who has struggled to make an impact in the Test side of the tour, opened his scoring with a six off Drum's bowling. Drum suffered most in the first hour and was taken off after his first four overs had cost 27 runs.

He did pick up Trescothick's wicket when the big left-hander tried to avoid playing a ball outside off stump only to have the ball hit the bottom of his upraised bat and rebound onto his wickets. He scored 14 and England were 23/1.

Butcher cut the first ball he faced for four. He did face a big shout for a caught behind off Tuffey's bowling but umpire Doug Cowie ruled correctly that the sound was of bat hitting pad, and not ball.

However, Butcher hit a ball straight at third slip but Chris Harris ducked out of the way of the ball and didn't make any attempt to catch the ball which flew just over his head.

Fleming moved Drum to the northern end after Tuffey had bowled seven overs for 30 runs and the move paid an instant dividend with Vaughan looking to play a back foot cut shot only to edge the ball to Fleming at first slip with the score on 73. Vaughan scored 36 off 42 balls.

Another problem with sight, in normal daylight, occurred soon after the Harris incident when point fieldsman, substitute fielder Brooke Walker, completely lost a Butcher drive which passed right by him en route to the boundary.

That left the requirement for England at 312 runs off a minimum of 105 overs.

New Zealand's declaration was at 269/9 with Craig McMillan left 50 not out off 51 balls.

Chris Drum did not bat in what will be his last Test match.

Mark Trescothick took three runs from the first ball of the innings bowled by Daryl Tuffey.

Conditions are fine, after a light shower early in the morning, but the prospect is for a full day of play in temperatures slightly warmer than for the last two days.