Stuart Broad admitted seizing a series triumph over New Zealand would be "a massive win" as England closed in on victory in the final Test at McLean Park.

Having declared on 467 for seven early on the fourth day to set New Zealand an unlikely victory target of 553, the tourists looked set for a hard two days after New Zealand cruised to 146 for one at tea.

But two wickets each in the final session for Nottinghamshire fast bowler Broad and Northants left-arm spinner Monty Panesar left New Zealand on 222 for five at the close, and kept the tourists on course for their first overseas series triumph since South Africa three years ago.

"It would be a massive win for us," admitted 21-year-old Broad. "To win a Test match series away is very hard and it would be magic.

"The squad know that so we're going to come out fighting tomorrow and we need five big wickets. After going 1-0 down it was tough, but we've shown a lot of character to come back and get into this position. We'll come back tomorrow fresh and strong and try to do that."

Broad revealed that England always thought they would find it tough to make inroads into New Zealand's line-up on a flat-looking pitch, and so it proved with Matthew Bell and Stephen Fleming, who was playing his final Test innings, forging a 99-run second wicket stand.

But both fell in four overs shortly after tea to leave England needing five wickets for victory on the final day with the second new ball just two overs old.

"We knew it was going to be hard work which is why we left ourselves around 170 overs to bowl them out," said Broad.

"The reason to bat on this morning was to make sure we could set really attacking fields and really go at them and give them an awkward hour before lunch. It has flattened out and it is slower, but that brings Monty into the game and he's bowled fantastically today, the best I've seen this winter, and created a lot of pressure from that end."

Both sides' improved scores in the second innings make light of the batting struggles over the first two days and Broad, who took two for 40 in tandem with Monty Panesar, acknowledges that conditions did not favour the bowler.

"We knew we had to hit the deck and create some pressure. It was important to change it up as line and length wasn't really cutting through like it was in the first innings," he said. "It wasn't swinging today whereas yesterday it was swinging all day. It bowled a few leg cutters, a few bouncers and used some different angles on the crease to keep them on their toes.

"Hopefully tomorrow it will be cloudy and the swing will go again. We go back tomorrow needing five big wickets to win a Test match. If we get them, it will be superb."

Fleming, dismissed for 66, was able to claim the 53 runs which ensured he finished his career with an average above 40 but was again frustrated in his bid to claim a 10th Test century. It was the 46th time in 111 Tests he had passed 50 but failed to reach three figures and Fleming, given a guard of honour by England as he walked out to bat, admitted it summed up his career.

"I walked off frustrated which has happened 50 or 60 times in my career and I did have a wry smile to myself that it was probably a fitting way to go," he said.

"If I'd have made a hundred it would have been an anomaly. I'm disappointed but when I take time to reflect I guess I'm satisfied to have a four in front of my average, but it would have been nice to chalk up 10 hundreds and be having a crack tomorrow to save the game."

He added: "Losing four wickets in a session has set us back. If it was one or two you'd say it would be a pretty tight day going into tomorrow. But as it is it's going to take pretty strong resistance in the morning and we'll see how we go in the afternoon - we still have some batting to come, but our backs are against the wall. But we're still going to fight hard, we're still going to make England work damn hard for those wickets."

Ross Taylor (34) and Brendon McCullum (24) will resume to try and bat out a minimum of 90 overs to try and save the match, or score the 331 runs required to pull off an improbable victory.

"You don't even think about chasing 500 until you get to possibly the last session," said Fleming. "If you're in some sort of position with wickets in hand then you look at it and then still probably shut up shop. After one poor session we placed the pressure firmly back on ourselves and haven't been able to shake it."

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