New Zealand resisted in the second innings of the Wellington Test on the backfoot. Kane Williamson set the record for the highest number of runs in white for the Kiwis before bringing up a personal century. With him, Tom Latham, Michael Bracewell’s great innings gave England a big challenge on the last day.

At the end of the fourth day of the second Test of the series on Monday (February 27), the English collected 48 runs after losing 1 wicket in their second innings. They need another 210 runs to win on the final day. Williamson set the record on the fourth day at the crease. The batsman, who was unbeaten on 25 runs the previous day, hit Stuart Broad for four in the first over and became the highest run scorer for New Zealand. Ross Taylor was at the top for so long with 7,683 runs played in 112 Tests. Williamson overtook him in his 92nd Test match. Williamson put on a 75-run stand with Daryl Mitchell despite Will Young getting out at the start of the day. Mitchell scored 54 runs off 54 balls when Stuart Broad fell victim to Tom Blundell. Their pair scored 158 runs.

Williamson was the victim of Brooke’s 132 off 282 balls with 12 fours. His total number of runs for the Kiwis stood at 7787 runs. The innings of the Kiwis did not progress much after his dismissal. When Brundle stopped after playing an individual inning of 90 runs, the team collection also stopped at 483 runs. Instead of avoiding the follow-on, the hosts set a target of 258 runs in front of the English. Crawley-Ben Duckett scored 39 runs in the opening pair as England set out to win by 258 runs. Duckett spent the rest of the day with Ollie Robinson when Crawley was bowled by Tim Southee for 24 off 30 balls. It remains to be seen how well the English, who have revolutionized aggressive batting in Test cricket, can handle the challenge of the Kiwis on their last day. Earlier, England won by 267 runs in the first Test of the series.