Tim Southee led the charge and Jonny Bairstow the rearguard as England's batting shortcomings were exposed again by New Zealand on the first day of the second Test in Christchurch.
The tourists accelerated to 290-8 by stumps after being sent in, boosted by some lusty late hitting from Bairstow (97 not out) and Mark Wood (52).
However, the first day belonged to Black Caps new ball pair Southee (5-60) and Trent Boult (3-79), as it did in their first Test win in Auckland.
They took all 10 wickets when the tourists capitulated for 58 on day one at Eden Park and are in line to repeat the haul.
Subtle sideways movement from the accomplished seam double-act was enough to dislodge specialist batsmen whose feet were too often rooted to the Hagley Oval pitch.
Needing to win to square the two-match series, England's hopes dived when three wickets fell in the space of nine balls soon after lunch, reducing them to 94-5.
Captain Joe Root (37) looked in control before inexplicably playing around a straight Southee delivery.
Dawid Malan departed first ball when trapped LBW by Boult before an awkward 111-ball vigil from opener Mark Stoneman ended at 35.
Ben Stokes (25) and Stuart Broad fell soon after tea before Bairstow and Wood opened the shoulders.
Bairstow is painfully close to a belligerent fifth Test ton. He played out a maiden from Wagner in the final over of the day, not tempted to swing at a serving of short balls to bring up three figures.
Bairstow's unlikely ally was recalled pace bowler Wood, who raced to a maiden half-century in his first Test for nearly a year.
Wood swung freely throughout their 95-run eighth-wicket stand off just 18 overs before he was bowled by Southee.
The partnership provided a probable pointer for the rest of the Test, Southee said.
"One thing to come out of it is it shows you once you get in, and the ball gets a bit older, then the wicket is reasonably good," he said.
"They played exceptionally well when their team needed it
"It would have been nice to have finished them off today, but hopefully we can get a good night's sleep and come back tomorrow and knock those last two off."
Wood thoroughly enjoyed batting with Bairstow, an old age group rival in England dating back 15 years.
"I had loads of fun," the 11-Test veteran said.
"The worrying thing is that I've got 50 before I've got a five-for, so I've done it the wrong way around, haven't I?"
Not out at stumps was debut spinner Jack Leach, one of three changes from the team who lost by an innings and 49 runs in Auckland.
The others were Wood and James Vince, in place of Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Craig Overton.
Vince compiled a streaky 18 while Alastair Cook was the other morning departure.
Veteran opener Cook was clean bowled by Boult for two, which will raise further questions about his international future.
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