England face defeat in the third and final Test against New Zealand after finishing day four on 90-4.
Alastair Cook’s England side have it all to do on day five of the third and final Test of the series against New Zealand in Auckland.
The Black Caps declared on 241-6 to leave England needing to reach the unlikely target of 481 for victory.
Opener Peter Fulton hit another century for the Kiwis and was finally dismissed for 110, whilst captain Brendon McCullum smashed his way to 67 not-out off just 53 balls.
The tourists got off to the worse possible start in their second innings reply as Nick Compton was out off the bowling of Tim Southee in the first over.
England skipper Cook and Jonathan Trott tried to steady things for their side as both men made their way towards half-centuries.
However it wasn’t to be for either of them as Trott was caught behind from a Neil Wagner ball for 37 and Cook was out seven runs short of his 50.
The visitors lost their captain and then night-watchman Steven Finn with the score stuck on 90 and stumps were called on day four with Ian Bell and Joe Root at the crease.
This would not have been the start to their second innings that England would have wished for as their only hope of saving the Test and the series is to bat until the end of day five.
Defeat in New Zealand would serve as an embarrassing reminder to England that they are not invincible, with the team ranked 8th in the world largely written off before this home Test series and many predicting an easy English win.
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