Kane Williamson's century puts New Zealand in control while England awaits Ben Stokes' injury update

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Tea in New Zealand: Blackcaps dominate England with strong lead of 478 runs At Tea on day two in New Zealand, the Blackcaps have taken control of the match against England with a commanding lead of 478 runs. Captain Kane Williamson is leading from the front with a fantastic unbeaten century on 123*, supported by Daryl Mitchell on 18*. The New Zealand bowlers were exceptional in the first innings, as Matt Henry led the charge with figures of 4-48. All-rounder Mitchell Santner and seamer Tim O'Rourke also chipped in with crucial wickets, taking 3-7 and 3-33 respectively to dismiss England for just 143 runs. With a substantial lead in hand, the Blackcaps will be looking to build on their advantage in the remaining sessions and put further pressure on the visitors. England will need a strong comeback in the second innings if they are to match New Zealand's dominance in this Test match.

Kane Williamson's century stretched New Zealand's lead to 478 runs at tea on a rain-hit third day in Hamilton when England were forced to sweat on the fitness of their captain, Ben Stokes.

Having reached fifty just before the close of the second day with his side already 340 runs ahead, Willamson pressed on through an extended session, bringing up his 33rd Test  century - and seventh at Seddon Park - with a thunderous six down the ground.

At the break he was unbeaten on 123 with Daryl Mitchell on 18 not out. Not only was New Zealand's mounting lead a concern for the tourists, but Stokes pulled up mid-over clutching the same left hamstring he injured during the Hundred in August.

It was a typically composed innings from Williamson, though not without its chances.

He survived a close lbw decision on umpire's call off Brydon Carse while on 73 with replays showing the ball was ever so close to clipping the bails at the top of leg stump.

He was also dropped by Ollie Pope on 86 when his attempted pull off Stokes made its way into the glove, but the keeper, leaping a long way down the leg side, couldn't hold on.

Then, on 106, he edged fine of second slip where Harry Brook wrongly anticipated the shot off Shoaib Bashir and inadvertently created space for the ball to squeeze through.

But Williamson marshalled the innings expertly when New Zealand resumed on 136 for 3 after heavy rain wiped out the morning session.

They added 50 runs in the first 19 overs of the day as Rachin Ravindra exercised a more cautious approach than that which had led to his downfall earlier in the series, unnecessarily chasing the ball outside off stump, while Williamson steadily accumulated.

Even as the chatter from England sought to remind him of this, Ravindra bided his time expertly before playing some shots from midway through the afternoon, including four off the Stokes short ball which caused the England skipper to pull up injured and limp from the field immediately.

Jacob Bethell completed the over with his left-arm spin and bowled just one more over, conceding the straight six that brought up Williamson's century followed by four more down the ground two balls later.

In the meantime, Ravindra had dispatched offspinner Shoaib Bashir for four through backward point and six over deep midwicket to move into the 40s.

But Ravindra couldn't follow Williamson to a landmark score - he fell to a leading edge off Matthew Potts, which was snaffled by Carse, who had given him an earful after conceding Ravindra's first four, dispatched through midwicket, earlier in the innings.