New Zealand will have to do something miraculous to save the Test.

 

England set New Zealand a target of 394 runs in the Mount Manganui Test | AFP

The target is quite big - 394 runs. To win, New Zealand must make a record. Because the Kiwis have never won by chasing more than 324 runs in the fourth innings before. There is no record of more than 345 successful runs on New Zealand soil.

A target of almost four hundred runs given by England is huge for Tim Southee's team.

Chasing that huge target, New Zealand lost 5 wickets for just 28 runs. The Kiwis batted 23 overs on the third day of the Mt Manganui Test. Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell are unbroken with 35 runs in the sixth wicket partnership. However, at the end of the day, 63 runs for 5 wickets says that unless something miraculous happens, New Zealand is in for a big defeat in this Test. Still the remaining 331 runs!

England's second innings batting made the match difficult for New Zealand before the batting failure in the second innings. After England's 325 runs in the first innings, Southie's team was close by scoring 306 runs. But Ben Stokes' team added another 374 runs in the second innings.

No one has scored a century, not even played an innings past 60. However, with a combined effort, the visitors took the score to a quarter of a hundred. 9 out of 11 batsmen have reached double figures, 3 have crossed the fifties. Ollie Pope played an innings of 49 runs alongside Joe Root's 57, Harry Brook's 54 and Ben Folks' 51. Ollie Robinson at number nine also played an innings of 39 runs. Blair Tickner and Michael Bracewell took three wickets each for New Zealand.

In the last session of the third day, the Kiwis went into bat with a lot of pressure. New Zealand holds the record for the highest 345 run chase in the fourth innings. What West Indies did at Auckland's Eden Park in 1969. New Zealand managed to chase a maximum of 324 runs in the fourth innings. Pakistan was the opponent of that 1994 match in Christchurch.

Stewart Broad took 4 of New Zealand's 5 wickets | AFP

Both are quite old. To set a new record, something big was needed in the beginning. On the contrary, five batsmen returned to the dressing room between the fourth and 14th overs. Among which the wicket of Henry Nicholls is only Robinson's. The wickets of Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell were four for Stuart Broad.