Wright helps England set tough target

A slow pitch and New Zealand's accurate bowling appeared to have restricted England to a modest total in a match they must win to level the five-match series.

But Wright arrived at the crease and gave the innings badly needed impetus, hitting 47 off 40 balls, as England reached 242 for seven in their 50 overs after being put into bat.

The Sussex all-rounder hammered two fours and four sixes before being caught in the deep with 3.4 overs remaining having loosened the stranglehold exerted by New Zealand, who restricted the tourists to only 24 runs between the 25th and 35th overs.

Seamer Kyle Mills set the tone with an opening spell of two for 16 from eight overs before finishing with four for 36 while New Zealand's decision to introduce Jeetan Patel ahead of seamer Iain O'Brien seemed a master stroke with England struggling to accelerate during the middle period.

Captain Daniel Vettori claimed two for 28 from his 10 overs, including the key wickets of Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood, who was stumped after being beaten by a turning delivery as he advanced down the wicket.

The key dismissal, however, was that of Pietersen who fell to Patel's second ball when he advanced down the pitch and picked out Jesse Ryder at deep mid-wicket just as England wanted him to accelerate.

But Wright began England's late flurry by hitting Patel over long on for six and following that with a further one off Jesse Ryder over cover as the tourists hammered 65 off the final five overs.

England's efforts were helped by Vettori giving Ryder the final over, which was hit for 22 with Dimitri Mascarenhas hitting two sixes and a four to boost their chances of levelling the series.