Alastair Cook left the field with a dislocated finger an hour before the close yesterday, but New Zealand will feel more unhappy than England with events at Chelmsford. With the exception of James Marshall, who made 128, and a belligerent last-wicket pair, who added 52, the New Zealand batsmen had a trying day.

Cook injured his right little finger trying to catch Daniel Vettori at gully and immediately ran off for treatment. He was sent for a precautionary X-ray, with the first Test match starting at Lord's on May 15, but it showed nothing untoward and Essex expect that he will bat today as the home side seek to take advantage after New Zealand wobbled, their five returning players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) making only 64 runs between them.

It was a grim welcome back to real cricket for Brendon McCullum after setting the sub-continent ablaze in the first IPL match two weeks ago. There were no cheerleaders at Chelmsford (not even underdressed Essex girls), no film stars, no fireworks and not much of a crowd.

The artillery he faced was rather less daunting, too. Then it was Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan and Ashley Noffke whom he thrashed in his innings of 158 in 20 overs. Yesterday he faced a trio of little-known fast bowlers who spent most of last season in the physio's room and a Dutch international of medium-fast pace.

Yet McCullum failed miserably, with one boundary his only scoring shot in a 12-ball occupation of the crease before being brilliantly caught at gully by James Middlebrook off Ryan ten Doeschate. The 2007 ICC Associate Player of the Year is more noted for his batting, but took five wickets yesterday.

It was left to Marshall to keep the visiting side going towards respectability with his first hundred for a representative national team since he was in the New Zealand Academy ten years ago. With uncanny coincidence, as Marshall gathered his runs in mid-Essex, advancing to fifty in 93 balls and 100 in 152, his twin brother, Hamish, was doing the same, taking five balls more, in Bristol.

Marshall may not have played a Test match for three years, but his name was all but written in for a maiden appearance at Lord's on May 15 before he began his innings yesterday. With the retirement of Stephen Fleming, New Zealand were looking for a grinder of runs at No 3, a steady accumulator who could shore up an occasionally frail middle order.

Not that New Zealand could have started much less cautiously. It is rare that Essex can choose from a full bowling complement, but with all their quick bowlers fit, Alex Tudor and Tony Palladino were given the new ball and caused problems with movement off the seam. New Zealand made 12 runs in the first half-hour and were on 32 after 20 overs. McCullum, due to come in at No5, must have been twitching with frustration at the tortoise-like progress.

That New Zealand passed 60 before lunch was largely because of a slew of thick edges to a vacant third man - a persistent problem for Essex, who conceded more than 100 runs in that unoccupied area.

Ross Taylor started aggressively after the break, hitting Palladino straight for six and then driving him for four in one over, but, with the first ball of his next over, the fast bowler got revenge. Taylor chased an away-swinger and got a thick edge to slip.

When McCullum departed soon after, New Zealand had a rare partnership of substance as Marshall added 128 for the fifth wicket with Daniel Flynn, but Ten Doeschate returned and got Flynn to chip the ball to mid-off and followed it by skittling Jacob Oram's stumps for four. Ten Doeschate then claimed the third fivewicket haul of his career when Marshall pulled into the hands of Maurice Chambers at deep square leg.

New Zealanders: First Innings

J M How lbw b Palladino 9
A J Redmond lbw b Ten Doeschate 35
J A H Marshall c Chambers b Ten Doeschate 128
L R P L Taylor c Gallian b Palladino 17
†B B McCullum c Middlebrook b Ten Doeschate 4
D R Flynn c Tudor b Ten Doeschate 39
J D P Oram b Ten Doeschate 4
*D L Vettori c Gallian b Westley 22
K D Mills c Middlebrook b Palladino 17
M J Mason not out 23
I E O'Brien not out 31
Extras (lb 13, w 4, nb 2) 19
Total (9 wkts; 90 overs) 348

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-68, 3-91, 4-96, 5-224, 6-241, 7-268, 8-284, 9-296.
Bowling: Tudor 17-3-65-0; Palladino 17-8-50-3; Chambers 20-3-72-0; Ten Doeschate 17-3-57-5; Middlebrook 10-1-41-0; Bopara 5-0-31-0;Westley 4-0-19-1.

Essex: *M L Pettini, M A Chambers, A P Palladino, J E R Gallian, †J S Foster, R S Bopara, A J Tudor, A N Cook, T Westley, R N ten Doeschate, J D Middlebrook.

Umpires: T J Urben and P Willey