Having eventually managed to bowl New Zealand all out for 375 in the first innings of the second Test in Hamilton, pacer Stuart Broad wishes to see England's batsmen "set up the game" for the second innings by piling on a mountain of runs over the next couple of days.
The three lions, already 1-0 down in the two-match series following an innings defeat at Bay Oval, find themselves precariously placed at 39/2 until stumps on Day 2 with opener Rory Burns and skipper Joe Root not out overnight.
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"We know we've got to go and bat 150 overs here to set up the game on day five," Broad said after the day's play. "Our opportunity is there. There's not a lot happening in the pitch, there's not a lot of scoreboard pressure. There's a chance for a couple of people to go and get hundreds."
"Someone like Rory Burns is our key batsman because he's a player that has his areas that he scores in. If he can stay in that bubble and not chase balls outside off stump, he's someone who could go and get 200."
"We need someone to go and get a big hundred for us to win this game and we've got the players to do it. If a batsman really applies himself on these pitches and doesn't play loose shots and wants to just score in their area, they can be a real handful."
Broad ended the first foray with respectable figures of 4/73, dismissing Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, and also BJ Watling with a delivery bowled from a foot behind the popping crease in order to put the batsman's rhythm out of sync. Broad revealed he tried it in the Ashes too against Steve Smith.
"I tried it once at The Oval, where Steve Smith was causing us a lot of problems," he said. "Because he triggered so much, I thought if I bowl it a yard before the line, it might surprise him and catch him off guard. But I hadn't practised it all."
"So leading into tea here, I thought I'd nothing to lose. I thought it might change the balance of the trigger movement for the batsman. It caught him by surprise a bit. I don't know if it did him for lack of pace, but you take anything out here."
"I've tried to vary my pace and I've tried to use the short ball at times. I've got a lot of respect for how Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Trent Boult have gone about their business over a long period of time," he added.
"I looked at Tim Southee at Mount Maunganui and he changed his position on the crease a huge amount. Wagner bowls a bit of everything. The mindset is a bit different here. I feel I'm learning a bit as well."
(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)
