A late collapse by New Zealand has opened the door for England to chase a Test and series victory at Wellington's Basin Reserve tomorrow.
New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 28 after Kane Williamson notched his 26th Test century and became the country's all-time leading run scorer.
The former Black Caps skipper worked hard for his runs, getting to his century in 226 deliveries with a beautiful cut to the boundary off the bowling of Stuart Broad.
After a 158-run partnership with Tom Blundell, Williamson was strangled down the legside by an innocuous delivery from part-timer Harry Brook for 132.
While a disappointing end, Williamson's knock was a wonderful innings at exactly the right time for New Zealand.
His century, alongside half centuries from Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell and Blundell, helped the Black Caps fight their way back into a Test that looked all but over after the first two days.
However, a late collapse meant they set England an attainable target of 258. England were 48 for one at stumps, Zak Crawley the man to fall after a pearl of a delivery from Tim Southee cut him in half and hit the top of off stump.
The final day is set to be a mouth-watering contest, with England requiring 210 more runs and New Zealand nine wickets for victory.
Earlier on day four, Williamson made history, passing long-time teammate Ross Taylor to become New Zealand's all-time leading Test run scorer.
The 32-year-old drove James Anderson down the ground for four in the opening over of Day 4 to move past Taylor's record of 7683 runs.
By the end of his innings, Williamson had moved to 7787 runs from his 92 Tests at an average of 53.33.
After the day's play, Williamson said it was a proud moment, but not one he was getting too caught up in.
"Growing up and playing with a lot of the players on that list [of top New Zealand run scorers] and admiring all of them it’s a proud moment, but at the time it’s about focussing on the job," he said.
"It was tough work out there. Those bowlers in the England camp are of the highest quality.
"It’s exciting for day five now, there’s runs on the board and as a team we have to have that belief [that we can win]."
Taylor took to social media to congratulate Williamson on his accomplishment.
"Congratulations Kane for becoming NZ’s highest Test run-scorer. This achievement is a testament to your hard work and dedication to Test Cricket, of which I was privy to for a number of years. Here’s to many more," Taylor said.
Taylor himself only held the record for a short time, having surpassed Stephen Fleming for top spot in January 2020.
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