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England debutant Dom Sibley could not reach the close of day four, falling for 12

New Zealand's dominant batting display in the first Test has shown England what it takes to make big scores, says wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

England will have to bat the entirety of day five with seven wickets in hand to save the first Test after slipping to 55-3 on day four at Mount Maunganui.

New Zealand earlier declared on 615-9, a lead of 262, after BJ Watling hit 205 and Mitchell Santner made 123.

"It's been a tough couple of days," Buttler told Test Match Special.

"It's been a lot of hard work and effort for very little reward - Santner and Watling have shown how patient and attritional cricket can get you to big scores, which puts pressure on you as an opposition."

England, who have struggled to make imposing totals on overseas tours in recent years, were in a strong position at 277-4 in their first innings, only for some loose shots to contribute to them being bowled out for 353.

New Zealand were 197-5 in reply, but Watling's patient approach in stands of 119 with Colin de Grandhomme and 261 with Santner put the hosts in total control as they reached their highest score against England in Tests.

"We'll reflect on our first-innings score not being what we wanted it to be - we got in a good position and let that slip," added Buttler.

"If you look at 450 to 500 as a first-innings score, you put a lot of pressure on the opposition and the weight of pressure from a scoreboard can create chances."

Slow left-armer Santner found turn and bounce to remove openers Dom Sibley and Rory Burns as well as nightwatchman Jack Leach, but Buttler says England can be confident of batting a long time on what is still a "decent wicket".

"We need high skill levels and a lot of character and this side has got that in abundance," he said.

"We've got a lot of that in the dressing room - if you look at who is still to come, Ben Stokes and Joe Root are world-class players who have shown an ability to occupy the crease in the past - and we have to show it on the field tomorrow [Monday]."

'We wanted to bat once and bat big'

Mitchell Santner recorded his highest first-class score

After struggling early in his innings on day three, Santner showed impressive discipline to bring up his maiden Test century off 252 balls.

He continued to bat patiently in the morning session on day four before starting to attack fellow spinner Jack Leach, hitting five sixes.

"I was making hard work of the century in terms of balls faced, but once the spinner came in with the wind I decided to use my feet a bit," said Santner.

"Throughout the partnership with BJ [Watling] we were just looking to take it deep and bring bowlers back into different spells.

"We knew if we came out early and lost wickets, they were back in the game - our plan was to bat once and bat big.

"Hopefully we're set up for a good day's cricket tomorrow."