England nightwatchman Steven Finn was nearing a maiden half-century as the first Test against New Zealand drifted towards a draw on the final day in Dunedin.

New Zealand’s last hope of forcing victory all but disappeared as the tourists climbed to 2-329 at lunch to overhaul their first-innings deficit of 293.

England lead by 36 runs with a maximum of 62 overs remaining in the Test.

They added 95 runs off 36 overs in a low-key first session for the sole loss of opener Nick Compton for 117.

Finn was on 42 and Jonathan Trott 37, the pair having added 64 for the third wicket after Compton was trapped lbw by Neil Wagner. Compton, who added 15 to his overnight score, faced 310 balls and struck 12 fours.

England’s batsmen were largely untroubled for the second day on a University Oval pitch offering little variation.

The lifeless nature of the brown surface is underlined by the exploits of Finn this week.

Expected to be a potent force with the ball, the tall seamer toiled for figures of 1-102 in New Zealand’s 9dec-460.

Yet the tailender, who came into the Test with a batting average of 8.5, has gone past his previous highest score twice.

He registered 23 in the first innings and eased through 110 balls on Sunday, offering just one half-chance when on two – spilled by a diving Dean Brownlie at third slip – after resuming on zero.

Wagner had taken 1-104 but the best figures still belonged to fellow left-arm seamer Trent Boult, who had 1-39 off 26 tight overs.