New Zealand 162 and 372 (Ravindra 82, Latham 73, Cummins 4-64, Lyon 3-49) lead Australia 256 by 278 runs

But the match turned shortly after Australia took the second new ball, with Josh Hazlewood nicking off Mitchell for 58 before Ravindra fell for 82 to Cummins’ first ball of a new spell when he was caught behind off a brilliant short-of-a-length delivery.

New Zealand slumped further after Tom Blundell suffered a horrendous dismissal when he hit a short-and-wide delivery from Cameron Green to cover with Marnus Labuschagne completing a fine catch diving to his left.

Green sheepishly covered his mouth after the dismissal, but he was soon left frustrated when Labuschagne spilt Kuggeleijn after diving low to his left at third slip.

Kuggeleijn played aggressively, but lived dangerously as he successfully overturned a caught-behind decision off a short delivery from Mitchell Starc after replays showed the ball missed the bat and gloves.

Having captured just two wickets in the series before this innings, Cummins has bent his back and again showed his knack for making things happen on flat surfaces.

After bowling a terrific spell late on day two, where he claimed the key wicket of Kane Williamson for 51, Cummins was the star performer and took the only wicket of the morning session when he dismissed opener Tom Latham for 73.

New Zealand might rue four of their specialist batters not converting fifties into centuries. In what had been a bowler-dominated series, batting looked relatively comfortable amid sunny conditions although Australia’s seamers threatened with the second new ball.

After being dismissed for just 162 on day one, New Zealand have fought back ever since as their under-pressure batting order reached 200 runs for the first time in the series. But their hopes of a rare victory over Australia will rest with their bowling attack.

Resuming at 134 for 2, Latham hoped to make Australia pay after he was dropped late on day two by Carey. Latham also eyed a first Test century against Australia having already overtaken his highest previous score of 63. He entered the innings with an average against Australia of just 27 compared to an overall mark of 40.

But his bid for an elusive century against Australia ended when Cummins, bowling from around the wicket, cut through him with a delivery that reared sharply off the surface. It appeared to take Latham on the back pad and there was only a half-hearted appeal from behind the wicket, but Cummins wisely decided to review after consulting with Carey.

For the first time in the series, Mitchell entered with New Zealand well positioned in a perfect chance for him to showcase his aggression. In an intriguing battle, Mitchell countered Lyon’s bid to tie up an end by unfurling his reverse sweep and he also confidently skipped down the wicket to whack him over long-off for six.

Ravindra too used his feet to Lyon as he brought up his half-century in style with a classic straight drive to the boundary off Mitchell Marsh, who was brought on late in the session.

With Ravindra and Mitchell in command, Cummins also reverted to Travis Head and Labuschagne either side of lunch as Australia used eight bowlers. Just before the second new ball, Labuschagne unfurled his seamers and focused on bowling short with speeds reaching 130 kph. The tactic almost proved a masterstroke when Ravindra top-edged just short of long-leg.

But after that somewhat amusing over, Australia took the second new ball and it did the trick in a passage of a play that might change the course of the match.