The Black Caps were 86-5 in response to England's 280, with Brydon Carse capturing the key wicket of Kane Williamson soon before stumps to cap an enthralling day.

At close Tom Blundell was on seven and nightwatchman Will O'Rourke yet to score.

It was a fast-moving opening day, in a similar vein to the first Test in Christchurch, which England won by eight wickets in three and a half days.

Brook set the tone with his brilliant 123 off 115 balls, following on from his match-winning 171 at Hagley Oval.

He again rescued England, who had crumbled in the first hour to 43-4 after being sent in on a green Basin Reserve pitch.

Brook described it as the "favourite" of his eight centuries in 23 Tests, surpassing even his 317 against Pakistan on a friendly batting surface in Multan in October.

With England in trouble, he took the fight to the home seamers by charging down the pitch to put them off their line.

"Just the circumstances really. The pitch was doing quite a bit, seaming and swinging, and I put my attacking mode on, really took it to them," Brook said.

"In the situation of the game, and the way I played, I felt I was really putting them under a lot of pressure."

New Zealand's top order had no answer against seam and bounce through an intense last 26 overs of the day.

Devon Conway was caught behind off Gus Atkinson for 11 before fellow opener Tom Latham was clean-bowled by captain counterpart Ben Stokes for 17.

Rachin Ravindra departed for three, caught by a diving Carse in close off Chris Woakes.

The lively Carse (2-28) then claimed danger man Williamson, caught by diving wicketkeeper Ollie Pope for 37.

Daryl Mitchell, on six, snicked a second catch to Pope, down the leg side off Carse.

Williamson had survived some near scrapes early in his knock, including being bowled by a superb delivery from Carse, before the anguished seamer was found to have bowled a no-ball by overstepping the mark.

Earlier, Brook's fifth-wicket partnership with Pope (66) proved a turning point on the day, the pair counter-punching their way out of trouble with 174 off 158 balls.

The stand was reminiscent of the first Test when the same pair combined for a rapid 151 to revive their first innings.

Brook blasted five sixes and 11 fours before being run out on the last ball of the second session.

He took the blame for his dismissal, saying it was a "misjudgement" to set off for a tight single to short midwicket.

Woakes didn't respond and Brook was caught short when bowler Nathan Smith hit the stumps in his follow-through.

Smith, who took 4-86, described Brook as a rising star of the world game. 

"He's in that crop of new young cricketers -- him, Rachin (Ravindra) and the guy from India (Yashasvi Jaiswal) -- put those guys in the same category," Smith said..

"He's world-class and today he was keen to take the game on and it paid off for him. He played some ridiculous shots so full credit to him."

Before Brook's departure, O'Rourke (3-49) removed Pope and Stokes in the second session before Smith wrapped up the tail soon after tea.

New Zealand's poor catching from Christchurch was quickly forgotten, snapping up three sharp chances in the opening overs.

Matt Henry (2-43) had Ben Duckett caught by a diving Latham at second slip without scoring before bowling fellow-opener Zak Crawley for 17.

Smith had both Jacob Bethell (16) and Joe Root (3) caught behind, with Mitchell grabbing a flyer with one hand at first slip to remove Root.