CRICKET:COMPREHENSIVE IT may have been, but England's series-levelling win by 126 runs was as ugly and tentative as they come. Perhaps it has just been so long, abroad at any rate: 10 matches since Andrew Flintoff's side beat India two winters ago, in the concrete shocker that is the Wankhede Stadium, a world apart from the gentility of the Basin Reserve.
England, it seems, have simply lost the art - or is it science? - of nailing down matches. Certainly, in revamping their bowling attack to try to inject vim, they succeeded well enough, taking the requisite 20 wickets. Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison will, however, leave here feeling they might have had some say in the matter had they played, in what generally were seamer-friendly conditions.
A question also hangs over the batting, while by international standards, and certainly those they set themselves in the first Test in Hamilton, the fielding was at times deplorable.
In the end, the difference between the sides was a rollicking first-innings century from Tim Ambrose, a match-winning effort worthy of the man-of-the-match award. Yet by the end, instead of closing off the debate over the England wicketkeeping position, he had muddied the waters once more by lowering the standard both with bat and gloves.
Having watched Ambrose carve and drive his way to 97 by the close of the first day, New Zealand clearly gave it some thought overnight and came back the following morning to cramp and harry him on off stump, denying him width.
His second innings, of five runs, was as ugly as his first had been exhilarating. New Zealand have a further four Tests - one in Napier and three in England - in which to crank up their testing of him.
After an unobtrusive first Test, his keeping regressed as well: the catch he missed from Stephen Fleming while standing up to Paul Collingwood was understandable given the deflection: had he been standing back the chance would probably have gone to first slip.
The stumping he fumbled to give Jacob Oram a life early on was a different matter, as simple as these things get and the result of a technical flaw, rising too quickly in anticipation: the ball struck him on the knee roll.
If this seems an unduly picky point to make about a fellow in his Test match infancy, his predecessor, Matt Prior, was castigated for such mistakes during a more debilitating tour of Sri Lanka.
Yet again the top-order batsmen failed to score in the volume expected of them, but if they survived the cut after their display in a losing cause at Hamilton it is unlikely the selectors will wield an axe after a victory.
But Alastair Cook continues to look uncomfortable outside off stump, Michael Vaughan just vulnerable at present, and Andrew Strauss the same player who struggled through the past year or so.
As for Ian Bell, he continues to give the impression of a high-quality player without actually performing like one. Kevin Pietersen is showing signs of getting back to his dominating ways, while Collingwood is punching the weight he has been given at six.
Overall, though, the package is disappointing. The problem for the selectors is that with Owais Shah clearly not thought good enough no one appears to be pushing hard enough to oust the established players.
So salute the bowlers, who as a breed took the flak for the failure in Hamilton. While they were given conducive seam conditions for much of the match, the penultimate day, with its biffing southerly wind, was a test of character and technique - and the young, or rather raw, attack came through.
Ryan Sidebottom continues to exert authority, and Stuart Broad lent the enthusiasm of youth. The biggest plaudits must go to Jimmy Anderson, whose five first-innings wickets justified his inclusion. It was the second innings that caught the eye, though. He twisted an ankle and many might have ducked the challenge of playing. That he did not is a tribute to his mentality. Whether he is fit for Napier remains to be seen, but he earned his stripes in the Basin.
Overnight: England 342 (TR Ambrose 102, PD Collingwood 65; MR Gillespie 4-79) and 293 (AN Cook 60, PD Collingwood 59). New Zealand 198 (RL Taylor 53, D L Vettori 50 no; JM Anderson 5-73) and 242-6 (RL Taylor 55).
NEW ZEALAND Second Innings
BB McCullum c Sidebottom b Panesar85
DL Vettori c Cook b Sidebottom0
KD Mills lbw b Sidebottom13
MR Gillespie c Ambrose b Anderson9
CS Martin not out0
Extras lb11 w1 pens 012
Total (100.3 overs)311
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-69, 3-70, 4-151, 5-173, 6-242. 7-246, 8-270, 9-311.
Bowling: Sidebottom 31-10-105-5; Anderson 15-2-57-2; Broad 23-6-62-2; Collinwood 9-2-20-0; Panesar 21.3-1-53-1; Pietersen 1-0-3-0-16.
England beat New Zealand by 126 runs.
