New Zealand won both races on Friday to open up a 6-2 lead over Great Britain and move within a point of retaining the America’s Cup.

Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia team began the day hoping to level the best-of-13 series in Barcelona after a strong showing on Wednesday.

But favourable wind conditions helped Emirates Team New Zealand triumph in race seven and they followed up on that in race eight to claim five match points.

“It wasn’t a good day for us – hats off to the Kiwis,” said British skipper Ben Ainslie.

“They sailed two really strong races in that shifty stuff and managed to pick the right side off both start lines and get that first shift.

“They did a really nice job of defending when ahead and putting us in a bad spot. We’ll take it on the chin and it’s still not over yet, so we’ll keep fighting.”

Racing resumes on Saturday with the Kiwis aiming to become the first team to lift the Auld Mug on three consecutive occasions since the United States (1987-1992).

Britain, who are appearing in their first final since 1964, have never previously won the silver ewer in the competition’s 173-year history.

The remaining races of the America’s Cup will be available to watch live across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, with Saturday’s racing starting from 13:00 BST.