Brook, Stokes, Atkinson put the hammer down as England seize lead

Innings – England 499 (Brook 171, Stokes 80, Pope 77, Henry 4-84) lead New Zealand 348 (Williamson 93, Phillips 58*, Carse 4-64, Bashir 4-69) by 151 runs

The most startling impetus came from Atkinson, who cracked four fours and two sixes in a 36-ball 48 before holing out to deep square leg to give Glenn Phillips his second catch of the innings.

England had resumed on 319 for 5, a deficit of 29, but with six overs remaining until the second new ball, they chose not to stand on ceremony in overcast conditions similar to those in which New Zealand’s seamers had thrived on the second morning.

Stokes had been the quieter partner in the first 97 runs of his sixth-wicket stand with Brook, but two wild slogs in the first over from Will O’Rourke – the second of which was pounded through midwicket – signalled England’s intentions for the morning.

Brook landed two powerful drives for four to get his own innings moving again, but having survived four drops on the second day, he was gifted a fifth life on 147. Phillips – who had handed him his first reprieve on 18 before grabbing a screamer to dislodge Ollie Pope – made a mess of another relatively straightforward catch that bounced out of his grasp at gully.

The new ball was Brook’s cue to take his innings into overdrive. A violent wipe through the covers off Tim Southee took him to 150 – only the third Englishman after Wally Hammond and Joe Root to reach that mark twice in New Zealand – and though he missed an attempted ramp one ball later, Southee’s 122kph outswingers were meat and drink to his carefree approach.

Chris Woakes didn’t hang around long, as Southee found his edge with a trademark outswinger that Tom Latham – the spiller of three chances on day two – scooped up low at second slip. But England have brought some rare batting depth to this Test, and Atkinson – a centurion against Sri Lanka in the summer – kept the runs flowing from No.9 with a rapid knock of 48 from 36.

He brought up England’s 400 with a swivelled pull for six over square leg off Henry, and kept the blows raining down thereafter, with Stokes content to take a breather in his own belligerence … though not for long. As the interval approached, he reverted to the belligerent strokeplay with which he had launched the session, crisply pulling O’Rourke through midwicket.

Stokes played second fiddle after the lunch break, and threw his head back in frustration after clobbering Henry straight to Southee in the deep. But Carse’s brutal hitting – which included an outrageous, wristy lap over deep fine leg for one of his three sixes meant the lead swelled past 150, before Shoaib Bashir’s ill-advised leg-side swipe landed into Southee’s mits and earned Henry a fourth wicket.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket