KP to the rescue

The Hampshire batsman has suffered a barren run by his standards this winter and had gone 10 Test innings without reaching 50 to underline the struggles of the tourists' top six in recent months.

But Pietersen emerged from his slump to hit an unbeaten 68 as England recovered from slipping to 36 for four to reach a more respectable 112 for four by mid-afternoon on the opening day at McLean Park.

The tourists appeared to have all the momentum following their comfortable triumph in the previous Test at the Basin Reserve, with New Zealand losing all-rounder Jacob Oram and seamer Kyle Mills to injury.

That prompted the surprise move to give 19-year-old seamer Tim Southee and South African-born all-rounder Grant Elliott their debuts, while off-spinner Jeetan Patel was preferred to seamer Mark Gillespie. It was a gamble which paid off, with Southee, player of the tournament at the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, claiming two wickets in his first spell as England slumped to four for three.

The tourists thought they had claimed a major advantage by winning the toss on a flat-looking wicket and deciding to bat first, but instead Southee struck with his 11th delivery in Test cricket when he swung the ball into England captain Michael Vaughan's pads and won a regulation lbw appeal from umpire Rudi Koertzen. Just six balls later, Southee claimed his second victim and continued Andrew Strauss' miserable run at this level, the Middlesex left-hander driving loosely outside off stump before being caught smartly in the gully by Jamie How for a duck.

Strauss, recalled after missing the series defeat in Sri Lanka before Christmas, took his tally for the series to just 107 runs in five innings and it is now seven innings since his last half-century. Opener Alastair Cook followed in the next over when he pushed forward to seamer Chris Martin and got an inside edge onto his stumps for two as England lost three wickets without adding a run in just 17 balls.

It left both Ian Bell and Pietersen with the responsibility of guiding England to a respectable total, knowing they must end the dismal run of eight Tests without a first innings century for any member of the top six. Bell was fortunate on two when Southee, perhaps showing his inexperience, failed to appeal after hitting him high on the pads, with television replays suggesting it would have clipped the top of the stumps.

But after progressing to a determined nine in over an hour at the crease, Bell became the first victim for South African-born all-rounder Elliott when he attempted to force the ball back down the pitch off the back foot and gave the bowler a regulation return catch. That left the tourists reeling on 36 for four but Pietersen demonstrated his poise from an early stage and pulled Martin for England's first boundary in the 11th over.

Paul Collingwood, who had to pass a late fitness test on a bruised left calf to play, gave him determined support as the conditions eased for batting and contributed 14 as the half-century partnership was brought up shortly after lunch.