As Graeme Swann’s throw missed the stumps and scuttled away for the overthrows that determined the game, New Zealand could reflect on two victories in one. Pragmatically, there is the scoreline itself, which means that England will need to win at Lord’s on Saturday to level the NatWest Series 2-2. Then there is the moral win, secured as soon as Paul Collingwood declined to recall Grant Elliott after the incident that ensured that a bog-standard one-day contest will stay in the memory.

New Zealand needed 26 to win from 39 balls with three wickets in hand when Elliott collided with Ryan Sidebottom attempting to sprint for a single. The laws place the onus on the batsman to make his ground, but on this occasion Sidebottom, crucially, was running directly across his path to retrieve the ball. Ian Bell threw to Kevin Pietersen, who removed the bails at the bowler’s end with Elliott just about up and limping forlornly towards the crease.

Far from having to make a split-second decision, Collingwood, the England captain, could have called back Elliott at any time until the batsman crossed the boundary rope. As Elliott was receiving treatment on his injured thigh in the middle while Collingwood spoke to Mark Benson, the umpire, that period amounted to minutes. The reaction of the booing crowd suggested that few outside the England camp thought that Collingwood, citing the pressure of a tense situation, had done the right thing.

England pride themselves on being a tough side, but there is a huge difference between making themselves hard to beat and messing with the spirit of the game. Collingwood took the easy option; the tough decision was to give Elliott the second chance that he deserved because that would have left England facing a harder task to win the game. Collingwood sought victory at any price, little realising that its value would be diminished.

The following minutes were low-key as England came to terms with the gravity of his verdict. Then, as New Zealand lost another wicket to bring the last pair to the crease with 13 runs needed, the tension rose again, finally enveloping the ground in an extraordinary last over by Luke Wright when Mark Gillespie failed to score from the middle four balls.

Needing two to win, and barely able to get bat on ball with all of the fielders up to save the single, Gillespie managed to push the ball straight to Swann in the off side. Swann had time to throw to the stumps for a colleague to complete the run-out. He certainly had time to take a good aim and hit them himself. Not only did he miss but, in the excitement, fielders had forgotten to back up. England were ultimately beaten by pressure of Collingwood’s making.

Leaving aside the Elliott run-out, this was another defeat of England’s own making as they fell short with the bat and in the field. The total of 245 gave them a chance but was probably a good 20 runs short despite an attractive half-century by Owais Shah and a scratchier but determined effort by Ravi Bopara. With Sidebottom restored to the side after a back injury, they bowled perfectly well overall but dropped Scott Styris, the top scorer in the game, on nought, a simple chance to Shah at second slip, then on 27 and 28.

He threatened to lead home New Zealand with ease during a fifth-wicket stand alongside Jacob Oram, but when these two and Daniel Vettori succumbed between the 36th and 39th overs, they needed 57 runs with only three wickets remaining. Collingwood, however, had used the bulk of Sidebottom, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, his leading seam bowlers, to get England that far.

Swann made intelligent use of the breeze but Kyle Mills, who was there alongside Elliott at his dismissal, held his nerve in the closing stages. His crucial hit arrived against Collingwood in the penultimate over, a six carrying 106 metres over mid-wicket when 12 were required from the last ten balls.

The past two one-day internationals at the ground have produced scores beyond 300 in the first innings and England began as though that was a minimum target. Wright and Pietersen, who suffered a second-ball duck, were misguided in their early aggression but the biggest culprit was Bell. He looked in fine fettle and should have gone on to a big score. Instead he nicked the impressive Tim Southee trying to glide to third man.