Five go mad as England totter

The tourists, dismissed for 110 in the opening Test at Hamilton, seemed set to bounce back strongly with a determined opening partnership before lunch.

The 79-run stand between captain Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook after being put into bat had New Zealand questioning whether they had made the right decision.

But the loss of five wickets in 23 overs immediately after the interval left England reeling once again and by tea they had reached a disappointing 156 for five.

Both Vaughan and Cook seemed destined for major innings after comfortably dealing with the opening session, but were rocked by all-rounder Jacob Oram's superb spell either side of lunch.

Oram conceded only two runs from his five overs before lunch and struck just two balls after the interval when he clipped Vaughan's off-stump as he pushed forward defensively.

Cook, who had progressed to within six runs of his first half-century of the series, followed in Oram's next over when he edged behind and gave wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum a regulation catch.

Under pressure Andrew Strauss scored only eight before being deceived by a Kyle Mills' slower ball which he steered to point.

Ian Bell's scratchy 52-minute innings, which included 28 successive dot balls and two dropped catches, was ended when Chris Martin was returned to the attack and he induced another tentative push and edged behind and this time McCullum claimed an outstanding diving catch.

The key wicket, however, was that of Kevin Pietersen's, who had battled for an hour and a half for his 34 and looked capable of dragging England out of their latest batting crisis. But just two overs before tea seamer Gillespie, brought in to replace off-spinner Jeetan Patel, decided to bowl from wider on the crease and angled the ball through Pietersen's defences to hit his off-stump.