On a day when both teams traded punches alternatively, New Zealand rallied around Kane Williamson who brought up his 25th Test ton, and fifth against Pakistan to give the visitors a lead in the first innings.

The former New Zealand skipper, who went seven innings without a fifty before getting this hundred, played useful hands in back-to-back partnerships that defied Pakistan. First came a 65-run stand with Daryl Mitchell, with the latter hitting seven fours and a six in a 47-ball 42 before he top-edged a sweep off Abrar Ahmed. While he played anchor in the first partnership, he turned on the screws in a 90-run association with Tom Blundell for the fifth wicket that helped the visitors get close to Pakistan's total.

It helped to ascertain New Zealand's position in the game after Pakistan's spinners threatened to get into the ascendancy. The hosts' pacers had started the day on a decent note without allowing the batters to get away, which set the tone for what was to follow.

Nauman Ali came in and managed to strike in his first over of the day. Devon Conway, eight short of a hundred, was struck on the front pad by a sharp turner off the rough. Sarfaraz Ahmed, the stand-in skipper with Babar Azam staying out the first session with a flu, sent the decision to the third umpire and Pakistan got it in their favour as the 183-run association was finally broken.

Latham and Williamson put on 48 for the second wicket even though they didn't always look in control. Latham's miscued sweeps and reverse sweeps fell safely as he knocked his way to a 13th Test ton, the most by a New Zealand opener.

That joy was short-lived for he soon perished top edging a reverse sweep against Abrar. This was closely followed by nervy moments for Williamson as well. He was first saved by the review, getting an inside edge that helped overturn an LBW decision against Abrar on 13. Two runs later, he ran down the track but missed one from Nauman and had luck on his side as Sarfraz too was blinded down the legside, resulting in a missed stumping.

Pakistan kept asking questions until the final over of the session when Henry Nicholls too survived a LBW review after missing a sharp turner from Nauman. But the bowler had his man in the next session when Nicholls chopped on trying to cut, leaving New Zealand at 272/3. Nauman could have had another had Sarfraz not missed another stumping off Williamson on 17.

However, New Zealand did not allow themselves to get bogged down by this phase of play and instead had some chances coming off, with Williamson himself setting the tone by lofting Nauman down the ground soon after his close shave. It allowed newcomer Mitchell to get going as well, with hard sweeps and miscued lofts all fetching crucial runs that allowed New Zealand to reverse the pressure.

While Mitchell fell 8 short of a fifty, Williamson did not miss out and continued to remain rock solid going into the final session. Blundell had moments of nerves against the spinners when he tried to loft them but managed to stay in. Pakistan managed to put a lid on the scoring rate as the pacers managed to get a little bit of reverse swing going. But as Williamson knocked his way around to a ton, New Zealand chipped away at the deficit. Blundell was finally LBW against Wasim while Michael Bracewell miscued a loft to mid off but New Zealand sat pretty thanks to Williamson's doggedness.

Brief scores: New Zealand 440/4 (Tom Latham 113, Kane Williamson 105*, Devon Conway 92; Abrar Ahmed 3-143) lead Pakistan 438 (Babar Azam 161, Agha Salman 103; Tim Southee 3-69) by 2 runs