A poke in the eye for Jofra Archer and a kick in the teeth for England’s chances of turning around a series that was supposed to act as a reset for their Test cricket.Archer’s moment of inconvenience came during a rare period of dominance for Ben Stokes’ team on the third day when, after claiming a second new-ball wicket, an intended high five from the England captain went wrong.New Zealand were effectively 96 for two after losing an opening pair that had shared a triple century stand at the start of this contest, but by the close that advantage stood at 204 with seven wickets in hand, with the chances of history repeating itself receding fast.In the same fixture four years ago, England christened the new partnership of Stokes and Brendon McCullum as captain and coach with a romp to a 299-run target. Anything above that mark this time, though, will be challenging in the extreme.England came into this match with the pair publicly endorsing their working relationship on the back of a trying fortnight off the field that saw Stokes miss the second Test while part of an ECB conduct inquiry and New Zealand set up a series decider on the Trent.Having begun day three in the ascendancy following a tally of 661 runs in the previous two, however, they returned to the field after losing their final eight wickets for 131 in the knowledge that this chameleon of a Nottingham pitch was only going to get harder to bat on. If England are to retain hope of winning this third Test on a chameleon of a Nottingham pitch, they needed early breakthroughs – and Archer has given them hopeNeeding early breakthroughs, Archer’s dispatching of Devon Conway so soon after the dismissal of his fellow first-innings centurion Tom Latham redressed the balance of an enthralling, see-sawing contest.The 31-year-old did not get above 83 miles per hour in his opening over, but the sixth ball jagged back to pin Latham leg before.If there was little the left-hander could do about that, Archer’s third over, the fifth of the innings, proved virtually unplayable. A brute of a ball that changed direction wickedly, struck Conway on the back of the helmet, triggering a seven-minute delay while his well-being was checked and headgear changed.But the respite proved short-lived as the final one took off, flying to Joe Root at second slip, persuading an England team that began this match by conceding a 317-run stand that another comeback was on.Once Archer’s burst of 5-0-12-2 was over, though, things became slightly more comfortable on a surface misbehaving badly after after being sun-baked for 48 hours. New Zealand closed it on 120 for three, an overall advantage of 204, and with things unlikely to get any easier during a fourth-innings chase, England must replicate the tourists’ morningDry and breaking up, even Archer’s deliveries of much reduced pace were injected by venom upon contact, but others could not replicate the same level of threat.Josh Tongue was arguably England’s best bowler in the first Test win at Lord’s, but has struggled for such consistency since and frustratingly when he did get it right, Harry Brook at wide first slip failed to respond to a nick that flew between him and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.The escape of Henry Nicholls on 11 was not a costly one, as Brook grabbed an action-replay prod at Gus Atkinson in the next over, but despite some hairy moments for Daryl Mitchell during Shoaib Bashir’s impressive evening concoction of turn and bounce, there were no further breakthroughs. Earlier in the day, a Nathan Smith surge overtook Henry to become the leading wicket taker in the series, starting by nipping one back viciously to Joe RootWith Rachin Ravindra’s classy counter-attack already worth 60, only replicating the discipline shown by a makeshift New Zealand attack on the third morning will do now for England.Resuming on 223 for two overnight, England lost both set batsmen for their overnight scores amongst a clatter of three for 10 in the opening half hour.It was a highly impressive effort from a New Zealand attack missing its most dynamic components in Matt Henry, the 11-wicket man of the match in the second Test at the Oval, and the gigantic Kyle Jamieson. Neither were considered to be fit enough to play here and to add to their problems, Blair Tickner, one of the the reinforcements, was ruled out the game early following a blow to the head.In their absence, Nathan Smith surged past Henry to become the leading wicket taker in the series, starting by nipping one back viciously to Joe Root.In the belief that the ball was going on to miss leg stump, Root reviewed, but for the third time this series succumbed to an umpire’s call. New Zealand have found reward in pushing the world’s No1 batsman back into his crease via the presence of wicketkeeper Tom Blundell up to the stumps. Stokes appeared to have found fluency with 95 for Durham against Northamptonshire last weekend, but there was little he could do about an unplayable delivery by FoulkesThe lavish seam movement extracted early on was a sign of things to come and Jacob Bethell became the second wicket in the space of six deliveries when his hands were lured from his body by Will O’Rourke and the angle of the delivery took the ball into the grasp of Latham at second slip.When Jamie Smith became the third wicket at half past 11, well pouched by Daryl Mitchell from a low nick off his namesake, it was left to Harry Brook, with a 66-ball half century, to reduce the deficit below three figures.Stokes appeared to have found fluency with the bat for Durham against Northamptonshire last weekend, but along with Brook received an unplayable delivery from Zak Foulkes – the first Kiwi concussion sub.Not for the first time this month, Atkinson was arguably out later than he should have been, but took no significant advantage of Ben Sears’ dropping of a dolly, becoming one of three wickets for four runs to end the innings. Only a similar clatter will do for England now. Bashir’s warning as pitch starts to break up Shoaib Bashir warned that England would need to keep their fourth-innings target as low as possible on a deteriorating surface at Trent Bridge if they are to avoid a damaging series defeat.Bashir’s off-breaks are posing a growing threat on a pitch offering turn and uneven bounce after drying out during the heatwave.‘The way both teams bowled today showed there’s enough in this wicket,’ said Bashir. ‘I wouldn’t put a number on the chase, especially with this England side. But with this wicket deteriorating, as little as possible.’New Zealand have slow left-armer Mitchell Santner up their sleeve, but it was seamer Zak Foulkes – his country’s first concussion substitute after replacing Blair Tickner – who made the vital breakthroughs on the third day, bowling Ben Stokes for 15 and trapping Brook leg-before for 58 with deliveries that deviated sharply.‘I’m going to say they hit cracks, which is a good sign with us bowling last,’ he said. ‘English conditions aren’t used to this heat, so the pitch is prone to cracking. I think the groundsman was worried about the dryness of the surface leading up to it.‘That’s the beauty of bowling last. Hopefully the wicket will be at its hardest to bat then, and we can make use of it.’LAWRENCE BOOTH