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Trent Bridge: Day one of five

New Zealand won the toss and decided to field

Lunch

Nottinghamshire and New Zealand have connections stretching back to the arrival of Sir Richard Hadlee – then plain old Richard – for his first season of county cricket 30 years ago. Daniel Vettori is another to have plied his trade here, but the strong link has not been enough to encourage a sell-out on the first day.

Nor has the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to open what is currently known as the New Stand led to a rush for seats. This afternoon will be his first visit since Silver Jubilee year in 1977, and his third to the ground in all, though the ceremony is to take place in the committee room rather than the stand itself.

There has been much conjecture over the impact of the £8.2 million structure on what was already a swing-friendly ground. The ball certainly did enough in the first half-hour for Vettori to feel that his decision to bowl first was the right one, but England weathered those early difficulties to feel satisfied at lunch.

Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan both paid for gaps between bat and pad but Andrew Strauss, driving crisply to the left of mid off, looked in good touch again. His closest shave during the session came in response to a daring call for a single from Kevin Pietersen which almost led to a run out.

Tea

Trent Bridge is renowned for its generous crowd and Kevin Pietersen, despite leaving Nottinghamshire under the greyest of clouds at the end of the 2004 season, has always been greeted on return as though his parting was completed with a friendly handshake instead of an acrimonious nod.

Pietersen received a hearty ovation when he walked out to bat and an even warmer reception when he strode back into the pavilion at tea having rebuilt an England innings that collapsed spectacularly inside three overs immediately after lunch, each of which produced a wicket.

New Zealand dominated the first 10 per cent of the session but Pietersen, showing signs of his best and most confident form, ensured that England survived the remaining 90 percent of the time in conditions that became increasingly well suited to batting.

Unlike Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, who both fell for ducks in lasting seven balls between them, Tim Ambrose managed to cast off concerns of his recent form. He was helped by bowlers who allowed too much width and the unbroken sixth wicket stand had realised 94 runs by the break.

Close

As Kevin Pietersen said afterwards, there would be something amiss if an England batsman did not secure a standing ovation after scoring a Test hundred for his country in England. Nevertheless the warmth of the reception suggested that the Trent Bridge crowd has more than forgiven the player for the manner of his departure in 2004.

The Duke of Edinburgh was among those who saw Pietersen rescue the side from another first innings collapse having arrived in the afternoon to open the New Stand. Actually, what he did was merely unveil a plaque in the committee room some 40 yards away; it will be transferred to the £8.2m structure in due course.

With the average first innings score at Trent Bridge as low as 214 the England total at the very least keeps them in the game although the pitch is slow and allows batsmen to re-adjust if their initial movement is awry. New Zealand, too, will draw some comfort from the removal of Pietersen and Tim Ambrose late on.

The day finished with an air of mystery as England initially confirmed that James Anderson had been sent out as a nightwatchman for Ryan Sidebottom (Test average 15.60) only to change their story a half-hour or so later. The revised line was that Sidebottom tweaked his back, but will be fit to bat in the morning.