At the end of a week in which Joe Root found himself outside of the world’s top 10 batsmen for the first time in five years, he served up his 17th Test century and his sixth as England captain. This was his most patient to date by way of balls faced but more than that, it was timely.

The moment came at 4.55pm on the third day in Hamilton. New Zealand’s Neil Wagner had thundered in, taken the inside edge and the ball flew just past the stumps and over BJ Watling for four. After a quick punch of the air, Root wore a broad grin before placing a palm on his face, such are fine margins in the sport.

The smile was wry, the relief palpable. In that moment Root had ended a nine-month drought in his hundreds column that, amid a generally low-key 2019 for runs, had raised questions about whether England were stifling their premier batsman’s output with the burden of the captaincy.

Only time will tell if this innings has simply calmed the debate for a spell. But it was a fine one nonetheless, as over 259 balls he hunkered down for three figures, put on 177 in 63.3 overs with Rory Burns – the opener made his second Test century with 101 – and was still there on 114 when rain washed out the last hour with England sitting 269 for five.

A deficit of 106 runs still to be whittled off made it just a foothold in the match but there was clearly a broader significance for Root. He had been talking up his expectation of a score being around the corner; this was all the hard work in the nets paying off in a demonstration of bloody-minded restraint.

“When you’ve not scored a few for a couple of games, you always want to get back out there and make a big contribution,” Root told Sky. “It was a bit of relief towards the back end. I think I’ve been trying to be too perfect with a number of things and so I just concentrated on trying to find a way, playing the ball as late as possible and just trying to play the state of the game.”

England’s best day of the series was a case of surpassing a pretty low bar and a wobble after tea meant it was not flawless. But for the new head coach, Chris Silverwood, who England have married up with Root in the hoping of building towards Australia in 2021-22, word of grit with the bat will have been welcome as he travelled back early from the tour to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.

It was predominantly built around the first England Test partnership north of 150 runs since the retirement of Alastair Cook in 2018 as for four-and-a-half hours Burns and Root repelled New Zealand’s attack and turned an overnight score of 39 for two into a platform for an innings of substance.

Burns was a new batsman to the one who offered two chances the evening before and looked frantic at the crease. He settled into into his work with some meaty pulls and clips, brought up his half-century from 97 balls and three figures from 208. The Surrey captain has fight in abundance but there was a touch of class in here too.

Root was less eager to fly out of the traps as he does at his best, channelling his inner Watling, perhaps, and knowing the surface would reward focus. Wagner’s looping knuckle ball – the kind of trick needed on this flat pitch – caused a couple close shaves, while Mitch Santner got one to spin past the outside edge. But by eschewing the drive and not forcing the issue, 14 boundaries still came.

When Burns was run out 30 minutes before tea, having survived an earlier such chance on 87, it left England 201 for three. The subsequent wobble, before rain wiped out the last hour, brought to mind Root’s words on the eve of the match when he spoke about “making good decisions for long periods of time”.

Root had been asked to explain the team’s new mantra of batting time and replied that it was a case of identifying tricky periods that needed to be overcome, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach for a team of players with differing styles.

Burns had just experienced an adrenaline rush when celebrating his second Test century with a bow and, with he and Root best placed to take on a second new ball just seven overs away, here was such a time to re-double concentration.

But two balls later Burns was trudging off back to the pavilion, having clipped one into the leg-side, jogged the initial run and then been called through for a now tough second by the more fleet-footed Root. Jeet Raval’s throw was precise, Watling whipped off the bails and, after much deliberation by the third umpire, Bruce Oxenford, Burns was shown to be short by millimetres.

It gave New Zealand the in they had been craving and one they turned into two further strikes after the interval. Ben Stokes looked in glorious touch once more but a beauty from Tim Southee, around the wicket with the now 12-over old second ball, found his outside edge on 26.

Wagner had hammered away all day – quite literally at one point, helping the groundsman flatten out some footmarks – and finally got his reward when nicking off Zak Crawley for one. The debutant will never forget his first Test run either, having been forced to dive to complete it as Kane Williamson hit the stumps.

With all this stemming from the needless run out, it was England’s latest reminder about the knock-on effect of switching off for a split second. But with Burns having followed up his maiden Test century from the summer, and the captain’s mandate boosted by runs, the tourists could reflect on a decent day.