At last England have started to play like the team that they have the potential to become. To beat New Zealand by 126 runs and level the series with one match to play, starting at Napier on Saturday, must have been an intense relief to Michael Vaughan, the captain, and Peter Moores, the head coach, in particular. Provided that the bowling improvement in Wellington is maintained, it should do wonders also for the men in their charge. Having made heavy weather of finishing what they had started so well on the first two days, they quickly made the necessary incision on the fifth morning when Ryan Sidebottom had Daniel Vettori caught by Alastair Cook at second slip in the second over.

England’s best left-arm over bowler since J. K. Lever claimed another leg-before victim with an inswinger when Kyle Mills, having been rapped by several similar balls, was given out to a ball that might have missed the wicket for height. Sidebottom finished with five for 105, giving him 16 in four innings. New Zealand had fought tenaciously over the final three days of this game, however, and by bold, clean off-side hitting, Brendon McCullum took his overnight 43 not out to 85 before holing out as James Anderson and Monty Panesar claimed the last two wickets half an hour before lunch.

It maintained Vaughan’s enviable record of never having lost successive Tests. On the other hand, this was only England’s second victory in their past 17 overseas Tests, going back to the tour to South Africa early in 2005. It was their first anywhere since they won the final game of a one-sided rubber against an underprepared West Indies team at Chester-le-Street last June.

Vaughan’s bold gamble in taking the new ball when the umpires were vacillating over the state of the light on the fourth evening helped to save his team from the possibility of being on the wrong end of a fourth-innings record. From an England viewpoint there was an ominous look to the sixth-wicket partnership of 69 between the experienced pairing of McCullum, playing as boldly as ever, and Jacob Oram, who had settled after a fortunate start to his innings.

The umpires had already had the teams off for eight minutes after 70 overs and, when it resumed, England were obliged to bring on Kevin Pietersen for an over to persuade them to keep the cricket going. Vaughan took his chance, however, after 80 overs. He handed the new ball to Sidebottom and the left-arm swing duly did the trick when Oram went for a drive and sliced it to Pietersen in a fifth-slip position.

England had certainly needed to make better use of the second new ball than they had of the the first and to improve greatly on their error-strewn performance on the fourth day. They were blown a long way off course at times both by the capricious blusters from the Cook Strait and the frequent incompetence of their fielding. Perhaps, after all, there is a job for Richard Halsall, who takes up his post as the ECB’s new fielding expert after Easter.

Apart from the customary donation of four overthrow runs to the opposition, and some more sloppy groundfielding, they were unable to grasp three half chances and missed two, a slip catch to Paul Collingwood and a swirler to Pietersen, that were almost routine. In addition to one of those snicks to a wicketkeeper standing up to a medium-pace bowler that either stick or do not, Tim Ambrose more culpably missed a stumping that sounded uncomfortable echoes of recent times. Panesar should have had three wickets but finished the day with none.

Sealing a victory must help a good deal, but there seems still to be an extraordinary lack of confidence about this England team, whether batting or bowling. They were in a position after two days, 144 runs ahead with ten wickets in hand, from which they had to win, barring anything truly exceptional. Yet on a gloriously sunny Saturday they batted with wary caution. Cook’s solidity at the start and Collingwood’s shrewd batting at No 6 ensured that New Zealand would be asked to grasp for something beyond their reach, but on a Sunday when the renowned Wellington southerly blew with traditional force, the performance in the field was no more authoritative.

It was the lofty Stuart Broad who used the conditions best, keeping up good control and a decent pace despite being officially warned for following through too close to the stumps. This was a good pitch for fast bowlers (and for cricket) and the bold decision of the selectors to drop Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard paid immediate dividends.

FINAL MORNING'S DETAILS

New Zealand: Second Innings (overnight 242-6)

†B B McCullum c Sidebottom b Panesar 85