Steven Finn took a wicket late in the first session to ease England's frustration in the third Test with New Zealand after the tourists won the toss.
The paceman accounted for Hamish Rutherford after the left-hander slashed at a wide delivery, edging to captain Alastair Cook at first slip.
It left the hosts on 79/1 at lunch, with Peter Fulton on 41 not out, joined at the crease by Kane Williamson.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad's opening spells head earlier come to nought as Rutherford and Fulton got the hosts off to a promising start. Cook's gamble that this drop-in pitch might be at its mostly fruitful for bowlers in the first session therefore did not appear to be paying off.
There was precious little encouragement for England's frontline seam attack, including first change Finn at the same venue where he gave Rutherford a torrid time in the tourists' one-day international victory last month.
This time, the nearest Finn came was when Rutherford inside-edged him on to his thigh-pad and away for a single wide of short-leg in his first over. Rutherford had already driven Anderson down the ground to the short straight boundary for the first four of the match, and Fulton whipped Broad off his legs for his opening boundary and then cut Finn over point for another.
Anderson twice beat Rutherford on the back foot, and then had Fulton edging high and just past third slip to go from 12 to 16. There were no clear-cut chances on an apparently easy-paced and true pitch.
But there was enough life in it for Anderson to hit Rutherford on the grille of the helmet with a short ball in his eighth over. New Zealand's resistance was broken in the penultimate over before lunch, Finn's breakthrough offering England some hope.
England made just one enforced change in this potential series decider, after the rain-affected draws in Dunedin and Wellington, Jonny Bairstow replacing the injured Kevin Pietersen.
The Kiwis have kept the same team throughout, resisting the temptation here to fast-track Doug Bracewell back into the team after his recovery from a gashed foot.
