England frustrated by bad light and New Zealand batting as they chase elusive away win

New Zealand 278 & 42-0, England 307 & 352-9 dec: Joe Root's tourists need ten wickets they need to break a 12-match winless streak away from home

(Getty)

England’s hopes of ending their Test winter with a much-needed victory were hampered by bad light and resilient New Zealand batting.

Joe Root’s team set the hosts 382 to win this final match of the series after declaring their second innings on 352 for nine.

But they were unable to break through in 23 overs at Hagley Oval before the deteriorating light saw play on this fourth day halted at just after 4pm with 24 overs left unbowled.

Root and Malan both passed 50 (Getty)

New Zealand, on 42 without loss at the close, still require a theoretical 340 to win this match and clinch the series 2-0 following their innings win in the opening Test in Auckland.

England will have to take the ten wickets they need to break a 12-match winless streak away from home and end a miserable Test winter that also included a 4-0 Ashes series hammering in Australia on a high.

This is the second time since assuming the captaincy last year Root has set the opposition a target in excess of 300 to win a Test.

West Indies produced a huge shock to chase down 322 at Headingley last August, a fact that was surely in Root’s mind as he delayed his declaration until midway through this fourth day.

Malan departed as England's progress was halted (AFP)

Yet New Zealand, who need only draw this match to win their first Test series against England since 1999, are unlikely to take too many risks in going for the runs.

That will make England’s task even harder and they have a right to feel aggrieved they will almost certainly not get in all their overs because of the unwillingness of the match officials to start the final day half an hour earlier.

The end of daylight savings time here over the weekend, when the clocks went back an hour, means light has been an issue these past two days and that is unlikely to change tomorrow.

England will also be disappointed not to have made progress today after the hosts started their second innings under leaden skies, perfect conditions for James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Stokes was also sent packing (Getty)

The one chance England did create after Anderson found Tom Latham’s edge on 23 was put down by James Vince at third slip.

It means the odds are stacked against them to seal a win that would at least give Root and his players something to cling to ahead of the upcoming home summer.

“We’ve got three sessions to bowl and take ten wickets,” said wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow. “If the light and weather comes into it, there’s nothing we can do about it. But there’s definitely enough in the pitch for us to take the wickets.

“We’ve beaten the outside-edge consistently, there were some chances created and positive things we can take into the final day. We know the pressures it comes with, batting to save the game. Sometimes it makes you play slightly differently.”

Root will be disappointed he yet again did not convert a half-century, his 54 here the seventh time in as many Tests this winter he has failed to go on and reach three figures.

Bairstow pressed the accelerator late on (Getty)

Bairstow added: “You’ve got a guy who's well aware of that. I think he’s scored 13 hundreds – he’s only 27 years old. He’s still learning. He’s experienced in terms of stats and games, and his technique and performances are coming good.

“To be averaging 52-53 after 66 Test matches, there’s not many people in world cricket that have ever done that. So I don’t think it’s a case of worrying about how many he’s converting because when that does start to happen, he'll go from averaging 53 to who knows!”

The match situation had been in the balance when England had begun their second innings on day three with a slender lead of 29.

But they were in complete control when they began this fourth day on 202 for three, an advantage of 231.

Root and Dawid Malan brought up their half-centuries before both were lost in the space of three balls, from Colin De Grandhomme and Neil Wagner respectively.

England were frustrated to not make any inroads in favourable conditions (Getty)

With Tim Southee off the field with a viral infection, New Zealand had delayed taking the second new ball for eight overs.

They opted to do so after that pair of wickets and, after England went into lunch with a lead of 307 on 278 for five, reaped the rewards early in the afternoon session when De Grandhomme’s medium pace took the wickets of Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood in quick succession.

With England eight wickets down, Bairstow put his foot on the accelerator to get the lead past 350. He was lucky not to be given out on two when he clearly edged Trent Boult behind. England’s lead at that stage was only 311 but after umpire Marais Erasmus turned down appeals, New Zealand were forced to live with his decision as they had already used up their two reviews.

The declaration came when Bairstow eventually holed out to Wagner, leaving the tourists with 137 overs to bowl New Zealand out.

Yet the fact so many of those have now been lost to bad light has significantly lengthened the odds of England claiming an elusive Test win this winter.