Rory Burns, Joe Denly and Ben Stokes made half centuries as England reached 241-4 after winning the toss on the slow-scoring first day of the first test against New Zealand.
Burns scored his fifth half century in 13 tests from 135 balls in 195 minutes — 3 ¼ hours — and Denly followed him to his fifth half century in nine tests almost identically from 136 balls in 196 minutes.
Along the way, opener Dom Sibley made 22 from 63 balls on test debut and captain Joe Root scrambled 2 runs from 22 balls as England progressed at a glacial pace through the first two sessions, at little more than two runs per over.
Burns was eventually out for 52, losing his way after being 35 at lunch and adding only 16 runs more in the first hour of the second session. Denly accelerated after his half century and was eventually out for 74, including eight boundaries and a six.
Stokes took 15 balls to get off the mark, then stepped things up and reached his half century in what, by the standards of the day, was a headlong rush — from 91 balls. He was 67 not out at stumps and Ollie Pope was 18 not out.
Root didn't hesitate to bat when he won the toss Thursday but the pitch at Bay Oval, which is hosting a test match for the first time, proved more complicated than it appeared.
While firm and with a smattering of grass, the pitch was slower than expected and the absence of pace and consistent bounce made run-scoring more difficult.
England struggled to generate any momentum until the last session when Stokes, Denly and Pope scored more freely against the second new ball.
In the leadup to the match Root repeatedly emphasized the importance of occupying the crease for long periods, something England hasn't consistently managed for some time. That policy is central to the approach of new England coach Chris Silverwood and a departure from that of his predecessor, Trevor Bayliss, whose aggressive style hasn't produced much recent success in the long format.
Trent Boult and Tim Southee were containing but not threatening with the first new ball for New Zealand as Burns and Sibley dug in early on.
Medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme found the formula for bowling success, dismissing Sibley in the first session and Burns in the second, both to catches behind the wicket. The ball swung and seamed a little throughout the day.
Neil Wagner ramped up the pressure with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries which unsettled Burns and yielded the wicket of Root, who played an indecisive shot and was caught by Southee at second slip.
Denly seemed to be getting into his stride when he made an error and fell to a superb one-catch by wicketkeeper B.J. Watling off Southee.
Stokes and Pope were scoring freely before stumps and it appeared the pitch increased in pace as it spent more time exposed to the sun, making batting more rewarding.
"We knew the toss was going to be important and they had to play pretty well, we bowled pretty well," Wagner said. "We created a lot of chances which didn't go our way but they showed a lot of patience, took their time and batted pretty well."
Relive 1 NEWS NOW's live updates of day one
Stumps: New Zealand were left to rue another drop in the slips as England hammered the second new ball to reach 241/4 at sumps on day one of the First Test at the Bay Oval.
Ross Taylor put down Ben Stokes at first slip with just over five overs left in the day's play.
The normally reliable slip fielder reacting late and only managing to parry the head-high chance for four.
The Black Caps putting down their World Cup nemesis on 63 with Stokes the only real English batsman to show some fluency at the crease on what appeared to be a slow wicket.
Evening session: Drinks break
England have made slow but steady progress after tea to reach 160 for three with an hour to play on day one of the first Test at Bay Oval.
After Joe Burns and Joe Root fell in quick succession prior to tea, Joe Denly and Ben Stokes combined for a 40-run stand with Denly bringing up his half-century.
The slow run rate of 2.19 an over means England can ill-afford to lose many wickets in the final hour of play.
3.40pm: Tea
The discipline of the New Zealand attack finally paid dividends in the hour before lunch with Colin de Grandhomme removing Joe Burns before Neil Wagner claimed the prized scalp of the England captain Joe Root.
Burns' long vigil for 52 ended after 138 balls when de Grandhomme induced him into edging behind.
The all-rounder's second wicket brought Joe Root to the crease, with the England captain taking 21 deliveries to get off the mark before his innings was quickly ended.
Root finally got underway with a clip to mid-on with the single turning into two thanks to a misfield from Jeet Raval, which brought Root back onto strike.
The very next delivery he edged to Southee at second slip with a strangely loose shot outside the off stump.
Joe Denly was unbeaten on 41 at tea with Ben Stokes 0 not out having faced 10 deliveries.
2.40pm: Drinks in the afternoon session
New Zealand let the one chance they created in the hour after lunch on day one go past without laying a finger on it.
After being worked over - and struck on the helmet - by Neil Wagner, Joe Burns edged a Tim Southee delivery at catchable height through the slip cordon.
Unfortunately for the Black Caps neither Ross Taylor at first or Tom Latham at second attempted to catch it.
That was the sole chance the New Zealand attack created in the hour after lunch as Burns and Joe Denly made steady progress on an easy paced pitch. The one positive for the Black Caps was that they restricted the scoring rate of the English.
ENG 61/1 (Burns 35, Denly 4) after 29 overs
Lunch: Colin de Grandhomme managed to pry out England’s debutant opener Dom Sibley as England reached 61/1 at lunch on day one of the first Test at Bay Oval.
With conditions offering little by the way of swing and no seam movement, England’s openers reached 52 without loss before de Grandhomme enticed Sibley to drive at a delivery that swung away outside off stump.
The debutant edged the delivery to Ross Taylor, who took a good catch diving to his right at first slip.
Joe Burns and Joe Denly managed to survive to lunch, with the pair unbeaten on 35 and 4 respectively.
ENG 30/0 (Burns 21, Sibley 9) after 14 overs
12.00pm: NZ wil rue a non-review after hot spot showed Joe Burns had got the faintest of edges on a Trent Boult delivery in the fifth over.
BJ Watling led the appeal behind the wicket but Boult was unmoved and the Black Caps didn't review, with the technology showing it would have been given out had NZ used DRS.
That decision could prove costly with the Bay Oval wicket looking to be a flat and not offering Boult or Tim Southee much assistance off the pitch or in the air.
Sipley enjoyed a dream start to Test cricket as he hit his first delivery for four.
11.00am - England captain Joe Root has won the toss and elected to bat on a beautiful day in the Bay of Plenty. Both captains agreed it was a good-looking wicket.
Root's decision means opening batsman Dom Sibley will be immediately in action in his Test debut.
The Warwickshire batsman will open England's innings with his former Surrey teammate Rory Burns.
New Zealand decided not to hand a Test debut to fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, sticking with its regular seam attack of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult.
England: Joe Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad.
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