Fast bowler Ollie Robinson took the only two wickets in the 9.4 overs of play allowed on Saturday, with New Zealand reduced to 5-55 in their second innings in an unlikely pursuit of a 254-run target.
England were five wickets away from taking a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, frustrated that their charge towards an emphatic win had to be halted.
Play on a grim, grey Saturday didn't start for two hours, and then was broken up by three more bouts of rain, the last of them just after 2pm that eventually prevented any more action.
The unpredictable seamers' paradise of a pitch continued to offer movement every which way, as well as considerable lift on the third day.
The batters, 35 of whom have fallen in less than two days of normal play, had little hope. Two of the greatest, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, the all-time highest run-scorers for England and New Zealand, combined for 27 runs.
New Zealand's chase was undermined out of the gate on Friday when they were 3-36 by stumps. At that point, one stats provider put England's chances of winning at 80%, and that percentage was closer to 100 come Saturday afternoon.
Opener Devon Conway, on 12 overnight, was joined by Rachin Ravindra. He avoided a king pair — golden ducks in both innings — and took 10 more balls to get off the mark.
But Ravindra was undone on eight by a peach that Robinson got to nip away, completing a Test to forget for the Kiwi, who also dropped two catches.
He was replaced by Daryl Mitchell, who was out lbw for a three-ball duck when Robinson rapped him on the front pad.
Conway, who scored 200 on his Test debut at Lord's in 2021, scratched out 19 from 55 balls, and Tom Blundell was beside him on two.
Robinson had 2-18, for his sixth and seventh wickets in his comeback match, andf will have the chance to finish the job on Sunday, with no rain forecast.
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