England 280 (Brook 123, Pope 66, Smith 4-86) and 427 for 6 dec (Root 106, Bethell 96, Duckett 92, Brook 55) beat New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) and 259 (Blundell 115, Stokes 3-5) by 323 runs
The main resistance came from Blundell, who crashed 13 fours and five sixes in an innings that might have borne comparison with Nathan Astle’s famous 2002 Christchurch assault had he sustained it for another hour. Shoaib Bashir came in for severe punishment but was the bowler to eventually see Blundell off, albeit plenty of credit should go to Ben Duckett, who anticipated Blundell’s attempt to scoop and ran around from slip to intercept it down the leg side at the second attempt, after palming the ball up.
New Zealand had been 59 for 4 when rain took the players off for an early lunch, and Blundell might have been dismissed third ball after the resumption. Jacob Bethell, at third slip, was unable to cling on to a thick outside edge off Carse, and Blundell was rock solid from that point on, initially in a steadfast partnership with Daryl Mitchell and then with increased abandon as he and Smith slammed 96 from 82 balls.
Blundell’s fifth Test hundred, raised from 96 balls shortly after the tea interval, may not have altered the result but it was still a significant personal milestone, coming after a 22-month period in which he had averaged 13.52 from 14 Tests, with one half-century.
His dismissal, Bashir’s second wicket after that of Glenn Phillips during the afternoon session, was the cue for New Zealand to run up the white flag. Matt Henry launched Stokes’ fourth ball into the hands of the diving Bethell at deep midwicket, before Smith gloved a pull behind and Tim Southee, in his last Test appearance at Basin Reserve, fell swinging to leg.
By that stage, England were content to wait for victory to fall their way – but they had begun the day in a hurry, Root gamboling to his hundred before Stokes’ declaration gave them time to knock over New Zealand’s top four before lunch.
That only increased as Woakes, bowling into the wind, struck with his seventh delivery. Devon Conway perhaps made it look better than it was, leaving a big gap between bat and pad, but there was much to admire about Woakes’ wobble-seam nip-backer that kissed the top of off. Woakes then claimed the prize scalp of Kane Williamson with one that kicked up and left the New Zealand No. 3 for a thin edge through to Ollie Pope.
Tom Latham fell to Carse, plunging acrobatically to his right in his follow through to hold a return catch off a leading edge. Mitchell responded with a salvo of boundaries before Carse had Rachin Ravindra edging behind trying to force a cut, the batter looking to the skies as the rain began to fall.
England had resumed in an unprecedented position of comfort, sitting on a record second-innings advantage of 533 after two days of play. There was time to play for milestones, although only 6.1 overs were needed for Root to get to his hundred; Stokes then walked off with an unbeaten 49 to his name.
Root’s innings had been a serene affair, but he went to three figures in somewhat ungainly fashion, tumbling over on to his backside while attempting his infamous reverse-ramp. Fortunately there was enough contact with his gloved hand for the ball to clear Blundell and bounce away for four, allowing Root to celebrate with an impudent smile. He was caught behind two balls later, at which point he and Stokes charged off and the main event could begin.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick