Ton up for defiant Pietersen

The Hampshire batsman reached three figures just six overs after tea when he hit his 10th four of the innings when he attempted to drive Chris Martin but got a thick edge which flew past gully to the boundary rope.

It was his first century in six Tests and his first time past 50 in 10 Test innings and prevented England suffering a complete capitulation on the opening day at McLean Park as they battled to 176 for six. Pietersen's brilliant display was in stark contrast to the remainder of England's batting, which failed to take advantage of a flat pitch after captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and opted to bat first.

England, comfortable winners in the previous Test at Wellington, were able to name an unchanged side, while New Zealand were missing seamer Kyle Mills (knee) and Jacob Oram (hip), prompting them to enter the final Test of the series with two debutantes in Tim Southee and Grant Elliott.

It was a gamble which paid off, with 19-year-old seamer 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, 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 the tourists to a respectable total, knowing they needed to 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.

But having battled for over an hour for his 30, Collingwood fell with a loose attempted cut shot facing off-spinner Jeetan Patel and guided the ball tamely to point. Tim Ambrose, man-of-the-match at the Basin Reserve, batted intelligently until just seven balls before lunch when he pushed hard defensively at Patel and edged to Ross Taylor at slip. Pietersen, though, remained defiant and after surviving an appeal for lbw against Southee, he reached tea just 10 runs short of a deserved century.