Kane Williamson blended grit and flourish to make 93 from 197 balls on his return to New Zealand’s ranks, but his rare failure to convert such a promising start proved to be a microcosm of his team’s day, as England overcame a misleadingly placid deck to pick off eight prime wickets in their series opener at Christchurch.

Thanks to Glenn Phillips, who batted through to the close on 41 not out, including an eighth-wicket stand of 46 from 56 balls with Matt Henry, New Zealand finished the day with their innings, and their hopes, very much intact. But on a surface that is renowned for getting better as the match wears on, England will believe – after their recent exploits on a flat deck in Multan – that they can cash in when their own turn comes.

It had looked, from the outset, to be a crucial toss to win, as Ben Stokes called correctly on a green-tinged surface that had been kept fresh by spells of rain in the build-up to the match. But after choosing to bowl first, the anticipated early movement failed to materialise for England’s quicks, and instead it was the spinner Shoaib Bashir, with 4 for 69 in 20 overs, who emerged as their principle source of wickets.

England were indebted, too, to another wholehearted showing from Brydon Carse, whose extraction of a fluent Tom Latham was the key moment of the morning session, as well as another no-nonsense display from their find of the year Gus Atkinson, who picked off the dangerous Devon Conway in his very first over, then returned in the evening to dislodge Williamson with some extra lift outside off, as he fell in the 90s for the first time in 14 innings spanning six years.

Most of all, though, England owed their promising position to New Zealand’s lack of killer instinct, with each of their eight wickets proving complicit, to a greater or lesser extent, in their own downfalls. England were far from passive observers, however, with Carse’s optimistic aggression, backed up by Stokes’ typically proactive fields, epitomising a display that successfully shook off much of the fatalism that set in during their last two Tests in Pakistan.

While Williamson was marshalling New Zealand’s day, however, there were plenty of reasons to question England’s decision to bowl first. Having missed their triumphant tour of India with a groin strain, he was his usual phlegmatic self from the moment he arrived at the end of the second over, following Atkinson’s sharp return catch to dislodge Conway for 2, and though he struggled to assert himself at times – particularly against the energetic Carse, who struck him in the grille on 28 in a torrid early spell, and again on the badge as he moved into the 90s – he found the will to endure, and the gumption to step up his tempo whenever the opportunity arose.

Williamson took 14 balls to register his first run, and 47 for his first boundary until Stokes – struggling, as with all the seamers, to land his front foot in the greasy morning conditions – banged in a half-tracker to be pulled with aplomb through midwicket. The captain’s mood was not improved in his final over of the session, when Rachin Ravindra, on 20, pressed forward to a good length outside off, and got away with a slender edge that was only revealed after the event on Ultra-Edge. Neither bowler nor keeper even appealed.

In the end, that let-off didn’t prove too costly. Bashir was thrown the ball for the 30th over, in the first half-hour after lunch, and duly struck in his second over, as Ravindra looked to give him the charge but could only toe-end a dipping full toss to midwicket. His agonised look to the heavens betrayed the extent to which he’d given his start away, and confirmed the sense that this was a very good track for batting.

Williamson wasn’t about to make the same mistake. He took on the threat of Carse with a calculated double-whammy – a short-arm pull for four then a languid drive down the ground off the anticipated fuller length – and having got his innings moving, he rushed through to his half-century with consecutive pulled fours off Bashir, who looked threatening whenever he hit his length outside off but was all too prone to drifting down the leg-side.

By tea he was within sight of his 33rd Test hundred, and New Zealand – at 193 for 3 – were one good partnership from taking firm control of the contest. Instead, the errors came in a cluster, with their next four wickets falling for just 59 runs.

Daryl Mitchell had been a solid foil in a fourth-wicket stand of 69, but was picked off for 19 just ten balls into the evening session, as Carse returned to the attack with a packed leg-side field and a diet of bumpers, and induced a spliced pull to Harry Brook at deep third.

Williamson’s extraction was the killer blow, however. Atkinson had struggled for rhythm ever since his first-over wicket, with seven no-balls in the course of his 17 overs. However, his ability to hassle well-set batters is becoming one of his most notable traits. The ball that did for Williamson was short and reasonably wide, and apparently ripe to be cut for four. But his skiddy trajectory found some priceless extra bounce, and Zak Crawley at backward point swallowed the offering with glee.

Tom Blundell, out of form but battling hard for his 17 runs, then produced a similar error of judgement to hand Bashir his second wicket, whereupon the debutant Nathan Smith turned a leg-sided offbreak to Joe Root at leg gully to depart for 3. Phillips then responded by dumping Bashir over the ropes for the day’s solitary six, but when Henry tried something similar with the new ball looming, he could only pick out Ben Duckett at long-on, to put a seal on a hard-fought day.

Brief scores:
New Zealand 319 for 8 in 83 overs (KaneWilliamson 93, Tom Latham 47, Glenn Phillips 41* , Rachin Ravindraa 34; Gus Atkinson 2-61, Brydon Carse 2-57, Shoaib Bashir 4-69) vs England

(Cricinfo)