Cricket: England have noses in front of Black Caps at lunch on day three

England's Alastair Cook lets a ball past while batting during play on day three of the second cricket test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval. Photo / AP

England have their noses in front at lunch on day three of the second and final test against new Zealand at Hagley Oval—but not by much.

At the interval, England are seven without loss in their second innings, holding an overall lead of just 36. Alastair Cook is on four, Mark Stoneman two, but England should have a good two sessions of batting ahead of them today to try and impose themselves on the match.

New Zealand, who resumed at 192 for six, 115 behind England, lost their last four wickets for 86 before lunch.

On balance, that period was a slight advantage to New Zealand. England would have wanted to get rid of those four wickets at least 30 runs earlier.

BJ Watling moved from 77 overnight to 85 before he was beaten and bowled by a beauty from swingman Jimmy Anderson with the second new ball.

It was angled towards leg stump before hitting off stump.

With Tim Southee, he had shared a 48-run stand.

Ish Sodhi didn't last, becoming Stuart Broad's fifth victim, and Jonny Bairstow's fifth catch of the innings.

Southee completed his fourth test 50 – and first since 2014 – before Anderson knock his middle stump over, but it had been a sensible hand from the seamer.

There was some last-stand fun and games from Neil Wagner and Trent Boult as they put on 39.

Wagner swung a six into the spectators at backward square leg off Anderson, after being clunked hard on the side of his helmet by Broad.

Boult had his bag of batting tricks with him, overhand tennis smashes and feet moving in interesting positions. However he was last man out for 16, caught at fine leg giving Broad his sixth wicket.

Broad finished with six for 54 from his 22.3 overs, and Anderson four for 76, the pair thus mirroring New Zealand's frontline pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who not only took all 10 in England's first innings but repeated the feat from the first innings at Eden Park a week ago.

It is Broad's 16th bag of five or more wickets in an innings and his first since Johannesburg 2016.