Lunch England 195 for 2 (Pope 84*, Lees 67, Root 35*) trail New Zealand 553 (Mitchell 190, Blundell 106) by 358 runs
Lees produced some fluid drives off the front foot during the course of his innings and brought up his half-century with a four through square leg off Kyle Jamieson.
Having been dropped by Daryl Mitchell at slip on 12 during the second evening – one of two missed chances by the architect of New Zealand’s mammoth score with his knock of 190 – Lees ultimately fell for 67, driving at a Henry delivery well outside off-stump and edging to Mitchell, who held on this time.
The nature of the shot left a pall of ‘opportunity lost’ over the innings for Lees, who had come into the match with 171 Test runs, including a highest score of 31.
The tourists failed to take another chance when Root, on 27, top-edged an attempt to cut Trent Boult, the ball flying high and through Tim Southee’s outstretched hands at second slip.
Pope continued to look solid after resuming for the day on 51 as he tries to cement his place at No. 3, finding the boundary with authority either side of the wicket to take his tally so far to eight fours alongside his two sixes from Saturday.