Their seamers had the ball on a string, the Black Caps’ top order were toppled, and Mitchell was scratching around for runs.
But once Michael Bracewell had departed early this morning to leave the hosts down to their last four wickets and still 167 runs in arrears, Mitchell and the tail combined to change the contest.
Continuing an outstanding start to his test career — and lifting his average to 58 from 17 matches — Mitchell displayed a fluidity that both he and his fellow batsmen were lacking on day two.
The No 5 resumed on 40 and reached his half-century from 124 balls before, joined by a free-swinging Southee, he lifted the pace and required only 63 deliveries to accrue his next 50.
But that acceleration was nothing compared to what Henry managed, as a player possessing a first-class average of 19.8 made batting look simple on a surface that had bedevilled the Black Caps’ specialists.
After Southee (25 off 20) fell victim to a fine catch from Lahiru Kumara, Henry initially provided able support for Mitchell in his century quest, defending well enough as he scored 12 from the first 40 balls he faced.
His partner’s milestone safely secured, Henry then launched. Beginning with back-to-back boundaries off Prabath Jayasuriya, the Cantabrian closed his innings by crunching 60 runs from the next 35 deliveries.
His abrupt outburst culminated in a stunning 105th over, clubbing Kasun Rajitha — one of Sri Lanka’s day-two standouts — for five consecutive boundaries.
Employing an unexpectedly vast array of shots and scoring to all corners of his homeground, Henry registered his fourth test 50, brought up his side’s 350 and seized what only an hour before had been an unlikely lead.
The 31-year-old shared with Neil Wagner in a ninth-wicket stand of 69 from 49 — the Black Caps’ best of the innings — as his fellow seamer added a handy 27 from 24.
In total, once Henry was bowled out for 72 and New Zealand dismissed for 373, the onslaught from batsmen 8-11 had reaped 126 runs — compared to the top four’s tally of 100.
It all added up to a narrow advantage that, once the tourists had survived a six-over spell until tea and safely blunted the new-ball pair, Tickner soon made seem much more imposing.
Playing in his second test, and having conceded 103 runs without a wicket in the first innings, Tickner’s relief was clear when the breakthrough came in the 12th over.
New Zealand would have been feeling similarly. Southee and Henry were needed for nine wickets in the first innings, an unsustainable lack of balance to the attack that Tickner ended in four balls.
He received help from the hands of Henry Nicholls — another desperate to make a contribution — who made a sharp catch at gully when Tickner enticed Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne to drive.
Oshada Fernando escaped after reviewing an apparent lbw dismissal from Henry, but his stay was curtailed when he unwisely looked to cut Tickner over slips and feathered an edge to Tom Blundell.
The hosts then copped a blow when the wicketless Wagner was forced from the bowling crease with a right-leg strain. But Tickner ensured the day of ascendancy concluded in more appropriate style, getting first-innings top-scorer Kusal Mendis to nick to slip.
