CHRISTCHURCH: Spinner Shoaib Bashir took four for 69 as England recovered from a poor start to reduce New Zealand to 319 for eight at the close of play on the opening day of an evenly poised first Test on Thursday. Seamers Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse also grabbed a couple of wickets apiece as the tourists dragged New Zealand back every time they looked like pulling away at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval. Kane Williamson was dismissed seven runs short of a hundred, Black Caps skipper Tom Latham three shy of a quickfire half-century, and four wickets were taken at the cost of 59 runs immediately after tea. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry put together a stand of 46 for the eighth wicket to steady the innings but the latter holed out for 18 to give Bashir his fourth wicket. Phillips will resume on 41 not out alongside Tim Southee, who had made 10, with the late runs having probably nudged New Zealand back ahead in an intriguing contest. “I think both teams worked really hard, and I think from our perspective, we were pleased with the partnerships throughout,” said Williamson. “But you always know there’s going to be opportunities there when the ball’s in hand and it’s doing a little bit. “So there was some good fight there and they got some rewards late in the day. So yeah, I think both teams will be pleased with their efforts.” England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl on a wicket with a green tinge but New Zealand denied him the early inroads into their batting order he would have liked. He did get an almost immediate return when Atkinson dismissed Devon Conway for two in the second over, while Carse also struck before lunch to halt Latham with an edge at 47. Williamson and Rachin Ravindra put on 68 for the third wicket, however, before Stokes brought on youngster Bashir, who separated them with a full toss. Ravindra took on the delivery but only managed to punch it straight to Zak Crawley at midwicket, leaving the New Zealand all-rounder shaking his head as he trudged off the field with 34 runs to his name. Williamson, recalled after a groin strain ruled him out of the recent series triumph in India, hit successive boundaries off Bashir to bring up a half-century off 90 balls and set about building towards his 33rd Test century. New Zealand headed to tea at 193-3 but England changed things up with a short-ball barrage after the second break and it had an almost immediate impact. Some injudicious shot-making from the home batters helped as Daryl Mitchell (19) holed out in the deep off Carse, while Tom Blundell (17) and new cap Nathan Smith (3) both fell to catches off the bowling of Bashir. Bashir, who can become the first spinner to bag five wickets in an innings at Hagley Oval, said the encouragement he received from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum gave him confidence. “I wasn’t expecting to bowl 20-odd overs and take four wickets on day one, but I knew I had a job to do. Stokesy and Baz back me 100 per cent and that brings the best out of me,” Bashir told reporters. “If I bowl a bad ball there’s nothing really, Ben just looks at me and smiles. That gives me so much belief, because I know I can still bowl my best ball. “All I was thinking about was trying to take a wicket or create an opportunity.” The key wicket was that of Williamson, of course, and he fell in the 90s for the first time since 2018 trying to get over an Atkinson delivery but only managing to flash it to Crawley at point. T. Latham c Pope b Carse47 D. Conway c&b Atkinson2 K. Williamson c Crawley b Atkinson93 R. Ravindra c Crawley b Bashir34 D. Mitchell c Brook b Carse19 T. Blundell c Atkinson b Bashir17 G. Phillips not out41 N. Smith c Root b Bashir3 M. Henry c Duckett b Bashir18 T. Southee not out10 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-10, W-10)35 TOTAL (for eight wickets, 83 overs)319 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Conway), 2-62 (Latham), 3-130 (Ravindra), 4-199 (Mitchell), 5-227 (Williamson), 6-246 (Blundell), 7-252 (Smith), 8-298 (Henry) STILL TO BAT: W. O’Rourke BOWLING: Woakes 16-4-54-0 (1w, 1nb), Atkinson 18-2-61-2 (7nb), Carse 15-0-57-2 (3w, 2nb), Stokes 13-1-59-0 (2w, 1nb), Bashir 20-1-69-4, Bethell 1-0-5-0 ENGLAND: Z. Crawley, B. Duckett, J. Bethell, J. Root, H. Brook, O. Pope, B. Stokes, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, B. Carse, S. Bashir