Bad light comes to Black Caps' aid

New Zealand have a full day's batting to endure against England to draw the second Test in Christchurch and clinch a series win.

Bad light was England's enemy late on day four as play was called off with 24 overs still scheduled to be bowled.

The Black Caps were 0-42 off 23 overs in their second innings when the players left Hagley Oval at 4.12pm (2.12pm AEST) on Monday.

Play was abandoned an hour later.

The clouds only darkened from there, much to the frustration of the tourists, who still need 10 wickets to square the series 1-1.

A draw is enough for New Zealand, who are unlikely to make any genuine bid to reach the 382 required to win.

Play will start early on Tuesday, with England granted a maximum allotment of 98 overs.

The tourists must find a way to prise out openers Tom Latham (25) and Jeet Raval (17), who staved off a taxing English new ball onslaught from Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad before tea.

They were limpet-like in the 11 overs possible in the final session, offering only one opening when James Vince at third slip spilled a tough chance from Latham off Anderson.

An out-of-form Raval showed grit to still be there.

Beaten numerous times early on, the left-hander was in obvious pain after he was struck in the ribs by a rising ball from Broad.

Earlier, England declared their second innings at 9-352 an hour after lunch.

It left New Zealand with a target which, if achieved, would be the seventh-highest successful chase in Test history.

Resuming at 3-202 the English need for quick runs was stymied when captain Joe Root (54) and Dawid Malan (53) departed in quick succession just before lunch.

First-innings centurion Jonny Bairstow rattled off 36 to help Root make a declaration which, in hindsight, came later than needed.

Black Caps seamer Colin de Grandhomme found some movement to finish with 4-94.