When comparisons with Twenty20 cricket are drawn, the problem with longer forms of the game is that when one side is much better than the other, a close finish is out of the question. Over the weekend, speaking about the rise of Twenty20, Kevin Pietersen had predicted the imminent demise of the 50-over game and yesterday he did more than anyone to underline England’s superiority and kill this match as a contest.

With a perfectly paced innings of 110 not out from 112 balls, his sixth one-day hundred but his first in England, Pietersen propelled his side to a weighty total of 307 for five. That was always likely to be too much for a New Zealand team who were inferior with bat, ball and in the field. On this evidence, it is hard to believe that they beat England 3-1 in a one-day series only four months ago. Then again, Pietersen was enduring a lean patch at the time and now he is back in his pomp.

It would be ironic if that prediction about 50-over cricket were to come true because, on this form, Pietersen is one of the finest one-day batsmen of his generation. His past year has been relatively thin - he had gone 21 innings since his previous one-day hundred for England - but this century took his one-day average back above 50. For a man who is keen on his statistics, this is welcome news.

Promoted to No 3 at his own instigation, he moved gradually through the gears on an easy-paced pitch, reaching fifty from 62 balls and completing his hundred, which included seven fours and three sixes, from only 42 more.

For a full house of 16,000, the high-lights of Pietersen’s innings were two extraordinary switch-hit sixes off the medium pace of Scott Styris - effectively left-handed slog-sweeps - reminiscent of his famous blow off Muttiah Muralitharan in the Edgbaston Test two years ago.

When he had made 68, Pietersen swapped his hands on the bat handle as Styris approached, swung hard at a length ball and sent it soaring over extra cover. Or perhaps, for the left-hander, that should read mid-wicket. Confused? Well, Styris certainly looked baffled. He stood glaring accusingly at Pietersen, scratching his chin in disbelief.

The second blow came from a ball that was fuller and slightly straighter, leaving Pietersen with less room to swing, but still he managed to lever the ball high over mid-off (mid-on to the left-hander). This time Styris could barely suppress a rueful smile.

Remarkably, Pietersen tried this high-risk shot only twice and both times he hit it for six. No sighters, no miscues, just incredible hand-eye coordination allied to immense strength. “It’s something I practise and visualise a lot,” he said. “Some days it might not work, but I thought I’d give it a go today and thankfully it came off.”

The extent of that visualisation process was revealed by Collingwood, who was watching from the nonstriker’s end. “After the first one, he came up the wicket and said, ‘I was thinking about doing that in bed last night,’ ” the England captain said.

After Ian Bell had set England off at a canter with 46 from 58 balls, Collingwood joined Pietersen in a crucial fourth-wicket stand of 136 in 20 overs. Having struggled desperately for form in recent weeks, Collingwood scrapped his way to a run-a-ball 64.

With Owais Shah contributing a brutal 49 from 25 balls, including a towering six over mid-wicket off Kyle Mills, England scored 109 from the last ten overs and 71 from the last five. With four matches remaining in this NatWest Series, starting at Edgbaston on Wednesday, New Zealand’s bowlers must feel as though they have had a bad start to the working week with a long, hard slog to follow.

They are badly missing the all-round skills of Jacob Oram, whose hamstring injury is likely to rule him out until the third game at Bristol on Saturday.

They are also much weaker for the absence of players such as Shane Bond, Lou Vincent and Craig McMillan, who sought the financial rewards on offer in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League. Their rugby team suffered similar setbacks after the World Cup last year, when high-profile players such as Carl Hayman and Luke McAlister were lured north by the riches of English club rugby. But, as the All Blacks showed against England in Auckland on Saturday, they have the rugby-playing resources to cope with such losses. As a cricketing nation, they clearly do not.

Brendon McCullum briefly suggested that New Zealand would go down fighting with some thrilling upper-cuts off James Anderson. But after making 36 from 27 balls, he cut Stuart Broad straight to cover. In a fine spell, Broad’s accuracy and awkward length were such that Pietersen described him as “a Glenn McGrath in the making”.

After 20 overs, New Zealand were 83 for three, only one run behind England’s score at the same point. That was where the similarities ended. As New Zealand buckled, Collingwood exercised the captain’s prerogative, bringing himself on to clean up the tail and picking up four cheap wickets to conclude a fine match on his home ground.

“We’re not getting carried away yet, but this was a really great performance,” Collingwood said.

Scoreboard

England

I R Bell run out 46
L J Wright c Vettori b Mason 11
K P Pietersen not out 110
R S Bopara c and b Styris 4
*P D Collingwood b Vettori 64
O A Shah c How b Southee 49
T R Ambrose not out 1
Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 10) 22

Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 307

G P Swann, S C J Broad, R J Sidebottom

and J M Anderson did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-84, 3-95, 4-231, 5-304.

Bowling: Mills 10-1-59-0; Southee 10-1-68-1; Mason 10-0-62-1; Vettori 10-0-38-1; Styris 8-0-63-1; Taylor 2-0-14-0.

New Zealand
J M How c Wright b Broad 20
B B McCullum c Bell b Broad 36
J A H Marshall run out 4
L R P L Taylor c Sidebottom b Wright 20
S B Styris c Anderson b Swann 18
D R Flynn c Ambrose b Swann 34
G J Hopkins c Bopara b Collingwood 25
D L Vettori c Anderson b Collingwood 8
K D Mills c Wright b Collingwood 7
T G Southee c Bell b Collingwood 6
M J Mason not out 0
Extras (lb 12, w 3) 15

Total (42.5 overs) 193

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-61, 3-72, 4-101, 5-116, 6-165, 7-179, 8-180, 9-187.

Bowling: Anderson 8-0-45-0; Sidebottom 8-1-43-0; Broad 8-2-16-2; Swann 10-1-45-2; Wright 6-0-17-1; Collingwood 2.5-0-15-4.

Man of the match: Pietersen.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and N J Llong.

Series details: Second one-day international: Wednesday (at Edgbaston). Third: Saturday (in Bristol). Fourth: June 25 (at Brit Oval). Fifth: June 28 (at Lord's).