Tight bowling from Jacob Duffy set the tone, taking two wickets for seven runs in a spell of four overs. The removal of food-poisoned casualty Shai Hope proved key, after he tottered to the wicket on recovering legs. A miscued top-edge hook to Zak Foulkes at fine leg sorted that problem.
A second objective was to accelerate the cause.
Tick.
Tom Latham and Devon Conway, with the support cast of Rachin Ravindra and an ambidextrous Kane Williamson, batted unselfishly. They reached 306 for two in 54 overs at a run-rate of 5.66, a one-day international-like blueprint.
Conway and Latham might have become the sixth and seventh of their compatriots to score centuries in both innings of a test, but did so without compromising the direction of the team.
A third goal was to give themselves 16 overs, effectively an hour or so, to attack with the ball before stumps and presumably grab a couple of wickets.
Cross, because no wickets were taken at 43 without loss.
The fact the tired visitors are chasing 462 offered a plumped cushion for the hosts’ bowlers to fall back on, and a night’s sleep will enhance their chances. Balls have a Whack-A-Mole quality to them at times as they get harder to hit with the variable bounce.
Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips now have an opportunity on refreshed legs to earn their keep in the XI by spinning the ball out of the burgeoning rough.
Patel, after earning his first wickets at home with figures of three for 113 from 41 overs, looks the most potent of the pair, especially ripping deliveries from the City End.
What’s also worth noting is that a fourth pitch in six at Bay Oval tests has gone the five-day distance. The surface has probably offered more for bat than ball with just 20 wickets taken in four days, but both teams have had a fair crack on a true surface which is deteriorating at an appropriate juncture.