Sloppy England stay ahead

Despite dropping five catches and missing a stumping during the fourth day, the tourists were able to restrict New Zealand to 242 for six at the close, still 196 runs away from reaching a victory target of 438.

Dismissed for 293 at the start of the day, England had enough chances to wrap up their victory with a day to spare but finished on a high with left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom dismissing Jacob Oram just one ball before bad light ended play 15 minutes prematurely.

Sidebottom had given England a flying start by striking in the seventh over with a ball which lifted and Jamie How steered it off his pad to Ian Bell at short leg.

Stephen Fleming was dropped by Tim Amborse off Paul Collingwood while on 10, allowing the former Black Caps captain and Matthew Bell, who was dropped by Collingwood on 27, to combine in a 51-run second wicket stand

Bell only added two more runs before edging Stuart Broad behind off the first ball of his ninth over and four balls later Fleming shouldered arms at a delivery slanted across him which clipped his off-stump.

England's haphazard fielding continued with Mathew Sinclair, then on 27, dropped by Alastair Cook but perhaps the biggest drop of all came just four overs before tea with Kevin Pietersen dropping Ross Taylor, then on 26, at mid-off.

Jimmy Anderson, who had to pass a fitness test on an injured left ankle this morning to take the field, ended that partnership with his first ball after tea when Sinclair tamely chipped to extra cover.

But England's fielding errors continued with Panesar tempting Oram down the pitch only for Ambrose to miss the stumping.

Oram, then on 13, added just one more run before being given yet another reprieve when he was dropped by Ian Bell at short leg having clipped Panesar off his legs. That miss looked very costly with Oram combining with Brendon McCullum in a 69-run partnership which was only broken by the new ball with Oram driving at the fifth ball from Sidebottom and finding Pietersen in the gully.