England recovers from rocky session

Collingwood defender Lachlan Keeffe (24) trains with his team at the Queenstown Events Centre...
Collingwood defender Lachlan Keeffe (24) trains with his team at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday morning. Photo by Marcus Wagner.
England buckled but did not break yesterday, as New Zealand was thwarted by the combined willpower of Tim Ambrose and Paul Collingwood on the opening day of the second test.

The Australian-born wicket keeper and Collingwood put on an unbeaten stand of 155 for the sixth wicket at the Basin Reserve, their efforts enabling England to claim the honours at stumps on 291 for five.

Individually, the pair should be rewarded for their efforts today.

Collingwood resumes on 48 while Ambrose, playing just his third test innings, is on the cusp of his maiden test century after walking off on 97, a blessed relief after surviving a nerve jangling final over from Jacob Oram.

He played and missed three times and was disappointed not to have been contemplating a more relaxing night's sleep.

‘‘I really wanted to finish the day on a high,'' Ambrose said.

‘‘I thought I might get one ball in the over short and wide and I could get my hands on it. When it arrived, I got a little bit too excited and tried to hit it too hard.''

While Ambrose was understandably tentative when facing the last over, the 25-year-old was otherwise a picture of authority, stroking 15 boundaries and two sixes off 137 balls.

He marked his debut test in Hamilton last week with 55 - part of a dogged 90-run stand with Collingwood - and replicated that resolve yesterday after New Zealand sensed a quick kill, following Kevin Pietersen's departure for 31.

England was vulnerable at 136 for five in the 51st over but Ambrose and Collingwood denied New Zealand the opportunity to work into a relatively long tail.

‘‘It's a great partnership and has put us in a strong position, and we needed it, because we were under pressure,'' England coach Peter Moores said.

‘‘We needed a partnership and that's what you have a team for. You are always hoping that two people will get in and take the game away from them.

‘‘We have work to do, but it has certainly redressed the balance on a wicket that has done a bit all day.''

New Zealand regrouped impressively after openers Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook put on 79 in the first session.

It started going awry for England two balls after lunch, when Oram nipped another ball off the seam on to the top of Vaughan's off stump with the England captain on 32.

Cook added a single after lunch before he departed in Oram's next over, caught at the wicket for 44, and when Andrew Strauss, on eight, prodded a slower Kyle Mills ball to Mathew Sinclair at point, England was tottering at 94 for three.

Ian Bell, dropped on nought and one, failed to capitalise on his good fortune and was Chris Martin's solitary scalp on 11, and when Pietersen was skittled by Mark Gillespie, England's entire top order had been extracted for the addition of 57 runs in the middle session.

Oram, who ended the day with the remarkable figures of two for 25 from 22 overs, lamented the bowlers' inability to maintain their effort in the final session.

‘‘We didn't quite have the same rhythm and consistency we showed as a group in Hamilton and that's disappointing,'' he said.

‘‘We had better conditions to bowl in here and we couldn't produce the same effort.

‘‘In the last session we gave them too many four balls. We released the pressure and the confidence started flowing for them.''

Oram conceded captain Daniel Vettori's decision to bowl first might not stand up to scrutiny, should England push on to a significant score today.

‘‘If you put a side in on day one, you're trying to bowl them out as early as possible. At 290 for five you have to question whether you're happy with that,'' he said.

‘‘That middle session we were right on course but they got away in the final session. Ambrose played especially well.''

He was also complimentary of England's batting mindset, after its timid approach had been criticised in the first test.

‘‘I thought they came out and played a very different game. Cook and Vaughan set the tone with a lot more shots. We knew they'd come out hard or harder and play a lot more positively,'' Oram said.

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