James Anderson reached 400 test wickets with his early breakthroughs.
Yet they performed the cricketing equivalent of a funambulist getting across the high wire against the English resistance.
The innings delivered at 4.57 an over as they stacked up runs which could help force a result if substantial periods of the next four days are lost to rain.
New Zealand need to win to maintain their undefeated record across the last six test series.
After the initial shudder, Tom Latham anchored the innings with his fifth half-century in 20 innings, milking 84 in almost four hours. He survived three dropped catches in eight balls getting from 72 to 77 and an lbw review a couple of overs prior. Latham also successfully employed the Decision Review System in the sixth over when given out caught behind to a ball which clipped his thigh pad.
As he showed last year in the West Indies and the United Arab Emirates, he is set to be part of New Zealand's test spine for years.
He and Ronchi made 120 for the sixth wicket, reviving New Zealand's fortunes.
The country's 267th test player was fearless in his application and uncompromising with bad balls. He came within 12 runs and 14 balls of the fastest century on debut with minimal unnecessary risk. It was the innings of a hardened professional who looked ready for this stage after 83 first-class matches, an average of 38.42 and 13 centuries.
Earlier, captain Brendon McCullum applied a similar approach after Latham and Ross Taylor (20) put on 66 runs for the third wicket.
In what shaped as a personal vendetta, after a golden duck in his second innings at Lord's and subsequent criticism of his team's aggressive approach, McCullum banished his first ball from Broad for six over cover. 'Bonkers' they might say in these parts... but with the utmost admiration. The Headingley crowd, often considered a tough gig, whooped in appreciation. McCullum bristled with intent, his fast-twitch fibres were on parade and he raced to 41 off 27 balls in three-quarters of an hour.
Brendon McCullum made an important quickfire 41 but couldn't push on.
It wasn't as rosy after Anderson's wickets in the third over, which extended his reign as England's most successful wicket-taker. He became the 12th bowler (and eighth quick) to reach the 400-wicket mark. He finished with two for 43 from 13 overs.
The dismissal left New Zealand two for one as the ground was doused in rain and the players raced off, almost reaching the boundary before Guptill.
Matters deteriorated further from a New Zealand perspective when Kane Williamson was caught behind two balls later. At two for two, the national '26' complex, in reference to the side's lowest test score in 1955, began to fester.
Rain saw the first session washed out.
Regardless, a few hundred hardy folk anchored themselves in their seats with umbrellas up and coats buttoned given the expected 'high' of 12 degrees. They were rewarded with vivid entertainment as the day unfolded.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY FORD, THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE BLACK CAPS
SCOREBOARD
