Alastair Cook scored his 24th test century and Nick Compton his first Saturday in an 231-run opening partnership which steered England towards parity with New Zealand on the fourth day of the first test.
At stumps England was 234-1, 59 runs behind New Zealand with a day to play.
Cook was out for 116 two overs before stumps and Compton reached stumps on 102 not out, eclipsing his previous highest test score of 57, as the opening pair erased much of New Zealand's first innings lead.
It was the largest England opening partnership against New Zealand, surpassing the 30-year-old record of 223 held by Graham Fowler and Chris Tavare, and batted England into a position to secure a draw when the match concludes on Sunday.