England could remove only the stubborn Peter Fulton before lunch on day four of the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve.
In what was likely to be a narrow window of opportunity before the remnants of Cyclone Sandra disrupt much of the rest of this match, England had no time to waste if they were going to go 1-0 up with one more Test remaining.
But after James Anderson had Fulton fencing a catch to slip in the fifth over of the morning, the tourists could make no further headway as Kane Williamson (51no) helped New Zealand move from 77 for one to 153 for two.
Spots of rain before start of play relented, and under cloud cover England's pace attack had overhead conditions at least in their favour.
Following on 211 behind, however, the hosts were not ready to go quietly.
Opener Fulton had used up 114 balls and was just five short his second half-century of the series when he succumbed, ending a stand of 56 with Williamson.
On a pitch showing precious few signs of deterioration yet, Williamson was in even less of a hurry and duly dug in again for an unbroken half-century partnership with Ross Taylor.
Monty Panesar got two deliveries to turn sharply in his first over, and found the edge of Taylor's bat too but saw the ball fall just short and wide of slip.
Taylor also twice played and missed early on as he looked to attack Finn.
But otherwise, there was minimal encouragement for England, and number three Williamson completed his 50 when he pulled Joe Root for his seventh four from the 155th ball he had faced.
