With adventurous architecture and half a dozen circular floodlights hovering over the ground like moons in a planetary system, there is something futuristic about Trent Bridge these days. Some old failings returned to haunt England yesterday, though, as the top six - Kevin Pietersen apart - could not answer the questions of technique and temperament asked of them. It needed a wonderful, resuscitating partnership of 161 between Pietersen and Tim Ambrose to restore some balance to proceedings, England ending the day on 273 for seven.

It is New Zealand, however, who can be the better pleased with their day's work. A flurry of wickets shortly after lunch and, late in the day, the two key wickets of Pietersen for 115 - his twelfth Test century - and Ambrose for 67 with the second new ball, meant that Daniel Vettori's gamble to insert after winning the toss was just about justified. Much will depend how quickly they can finish off England this morning and on their first-innings batting performance.

It might have been so much better for them when Paul Collingwood joined Ian Bell in the pavilion for a duck three overs after lunch with the score at 86 for five and Old Trafford a fast-fading memory. It looked as if England were danger of subsiding. That things did not work out that way was largely down to the excellence of Pietersen and Ambrose, to a missed opportunity - Jamie How spilt a difficult chance low to his left when Ambrose had 36 - to a pitch that offered less than hoped for and an attack not quite at its best. Chris Martin, usually so reliable, had an off day - as anonymous as Banksy and just as expensive.

It is rare on a Test-match day that Pietersen can be described as anonymous and yesterday he took the bragging rights. Coming in on the stroke of noon, he left to a standing ovation 5 hours later. He passed his century with a glorious off drive in the process - one of the many glittering strokes that lit up the afternoon - and maybe, just maybe, having persuaded the Nottinghamshire public that he is not such a bad bloke after all. His dismissal, a waft outside off stump to O'Brien, was a loose shot, but without him England's position would be parlous.

Trent Bridge, of course, is a former home, albeit an acrimonious one. Despite that, he has a relatively modest record there in Tests and the international season had been a quiet one so far.

There was also a concern, before this innings, that somehow Pietersen had misplaced the aggressive instincts and the sheer bravado that had characterised his play when he first came into the England team. Was he growing up too fast? Had the move from No5 to No4, as Duncan Fletcher, the former coach, intimated, inhibited him a shade too far?

This was Pietersen's answer, and a resounding one it was, too. It was an innings of balance, one that mixed attack and defence, caution and aggression, orthodoxy and instinct and suggested that he can make a success of his move to the “box office” seat at No4.

Mostly, runs were accumulated through mid-wicket with trademark flicks, but one thunderous sweep, at full stretch, to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his fifty, recalled his best moments against Shane Warne three years ago.

A battle with a spinner who has caused him more problems than Warne was at the heart of his success yesterday. Until yesterday, Pietersen had not been quite sure of his best policy against Vettori. Should he play with his bat, or his pad? Should he attack or defend? He found the answers by playing mainly with his bat and playing the spinner late and off the pitch, so that Vettori's 17 overs were largely unthreatening.

Like all great players, Pietersen is self-contained at the crease, with just enough of a hint of selfishness. But as much as he does not need help, he needs partners to stay with him and without Ambrose he might have run out of them. The wicketkeeper is becoming something of a man for a crisis. His maiden Test hundred in Wellington came when England were five wickets down and in deep trouble and these runs, just as important for his own cause as that of the team, came in similar circumstances.

New Zealand bowled in similar fashion as then, too, allowing him too much width outside off stump, so that he could cut and carve merrily into his favourite areas behind point and down to third man. This was uncomplicated stuff, defending late and straight and smashing anything wide.

For Alastair Cook, Bell and Collingwood, three batsmen who look out of sorts and are short of runs, adherence to these basics of batting would be wise. Cook was all hands and no feet, groping at a full pitch only to lose his leg stump via an inside edge; Bell played all round a full ball and need not have waited for Steve Bucknor's affirmation, so plumb did the legbefore look; and Collingwood, nibbling away from his body and defending to extra cover rather than mid-off, was left to reflect on whether a week of nets and chat was indeed better preparation than a spell in the middle for his county.

The later successes of Pietersen and Ambrose, and the earlier ease with which Andrew Strauss and Michael Vaughan had played, albeit briefly until they were convicted of dangerous driving, put into focus the form of Bell and Collingwood. Trent Bridge's new look may well represent the future, but whether those two will be around to share it in the near term may depend on what happens over the next four days.

Full scoreboard from Trent Bridge

New Zealand won toss

England: First Innings
A J Strauss c Taylor b Mills 37 (122min, 97 balls, 5 fours)
A N Cook b Mills 6 (20min, 15 balls, 1 four)
*M P Vaughan b O’Brien 16 (32min, 22 balls, 4 fours)
K P Pietersen c Hopkins b O’Brien 115 (283min, 223 balls, 14 fours)
I R Bell lbw b O’Brien 0 (4min, 3 balls)
P D Collingwood c Taylor b Mills 0 (4min, 4 balls)
†T R Ambrose c Hopkins b O’Brien 67 (222min, 148 balls, 9 fours)
S C J Broad not out 15 (34min, 20 balls, 3 fours)
J M Anderson not out 1 (16 min, 12 balls)
Extras (b 4, lb 8, nb 4) 16

Total (7 wkts, 90 overs, 372min) 273

R J Sidebottom and M S Panesar to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (5.1; Strauss 8); 2-44 (12.4; Strauss 16); 3-84 (30.0; Pietersen 15); 4-85 (31.0; Pietersen 16); 5-86 (32.0; Pietersen 17); 6-247 (82.2; Ambrose 57); 7-262 (86.2; Broad 5).

Bowling: Martin 12-1-61-0 (12 fours; 5-1-21-0, 1-0-6-0, 4-0-22-0, 2-0-12-0); Mills 24-7-58-3 (nb 2; 9 fours; 8-2-19-1, 6-1-20-2, 5-3-8-0, 5-1-11-0); O’Brien 20-4-61-4 (nb 1; 9 fours; 6-1-13-1, 6-1-20-1, 3-1-10-0, 5-1-18-2); Oram 17-6-26-0 (2 fours; 5-2-10-0, 5-3-2-0, 4-0-12-0, 3-1-2-0); Vettori 17-0-55-0 (nb 1; 4 fours; 4-0-6-0, 9-0-31-0, 1-0-8-0, 3-0100).

Scoring notes: First day: Lunch 84-2 (29 overs, 120min; Strauss 37, Pietersen 15). Tea 180-5 (59 overs, 240min; Pietersen 71, Ambrose 36). Second new ball taken at 5.28pm - 244-5 (80 overs). Stumps (at 6.12pm) 273-7 (90 overs, 372min; Broad 15, Anderson 1).

New Zealand: J M How, A J Redmond, B B McCullum, L R P L Taylor, D R Flynn, †G J Hopkins, J D P Oram, *D L Vettori, K D Mills, I E O’Brien and C S Martin.

Umpires: S A Bucknor (West Indies - 124th Test) and D B Hair (Australia - 78th Test). Replay umpire: P J Hartley. Fourth umpire: R A Kettleborough. Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Series details:

First Test (Lord’s) Drawn.

Second Test (Old Trafford) England won by six wickets.

Compiled by Bill Frindall