Hussain was 94 not out off 222 balls at the final drinks break of the day when England were 214/8.

Hussain's innings won't be remembered as one of the more elegant he has ever played. There was a degree of improvisation about some of his stroke play and a large amount of sheer doggedness.

Whatever its quality, there was no doubting the worth of his innings as it single-handedly pulled the side back from the brink. He offered one serious chance when on 52, to New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming at first slip. Unusually for one of the better slip catchers in the game, he dropped the relatively easy chance.

Chris Drum broke up the 45-run seventh wicket stand between Nasser Hussain and James Foster when trapping Foster leg before wicket with a ball that looked high but was sufficient to impress umpire Brent Bowden.

Foster had shown commendable patience in supporting his captain from the vulnerable position of 151/6.

He hit four boundaries, including a fine cover drive, in an innings that was constrained by some tight bowling from the New Zealand attack.

The portable pitch played true enough after the first hour and its emerald green colour had burned off considerably by mid-afternoon.

Slow left-arm spinner Ashley Giles showed in the Canterbury game preceding the Test that he could handle the bat and he cut and cover drive two boundaries from Daniel Vettori's bowling, but in the next over, the first of Ian Butler's fourth spell, he wiped at a ball outside off stump.

If flew to third man where Drum ran around toward the boundary fence and grabbed the catch to give Butler his first wicket of the day. England were 214/8 when drinks were taken.

He was 70 not out at the break, scored off 171 balls, as England reached 176/6. James Foster was 15 not out off 43 balls.

England added 87 runs during the second session, but at the cost of two wickets, one a lucky blow for New Zealand when Mark Ramprakash was given out, caught from his pads, and the other a strangely out of sorts Andrew Flintoff plumb leg before wicket, both of them from Nathan Astle's bowling.

Astle bowled from the southern end of the ground for nearly the entire session and was superbly tight and conceded only 28 runs for his two wickets. He was very tight and there was never a moment's comfort for the batsmen.

Hussain held his side together and was 66 not out at the break. There were times when he was bogged down and his impatience got the better of him.

One attempted pull shot from Chris Drum's bowling lobbed to mid-on and could have gone anywhere while he was dropped by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming when on 52 off Drum. However, there were other moments when he was quick to punish loose balls, such as one from outside off that he pulled to mid-wicket for four from Ian Butler's bowling.

James Foster proved a steady contributor after the dismissal of Flintoff. He played one fine cover drive off Drum for four and another straight drive off Cairns, also to the boundary.

Cairns was not quite the demon performer later, that he had been during his first spell and his figures had advanced to three for 58.

Butler bowled tidily again but without the expected breakthroughs.

Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori was not called into the attack until the 58th over.

Conditions were perfect during the afternoon, as the sun broke through after some early morning cloud. There was little breeze and temperatures were not too hot.

England, after being sent in by New Zealand, were 140/5 at the afternoon drinks break with Nasser Hussain on 53 not out and Andrew Flintoff 0 not out.

Run scoring became a lot easier in the post-lunch session as the greenness dried out of the pitch. It changed from the bright green offering to a lighter green and batting became a distinctly more profitable proposition.

Nasser Hussain did have some moments before scoring his 20th Test half century. He was on 49 for 19 balls before finally breaking the stranglehold that Nathan Astle had over him by squirting a single to mid-off.

He had taken 161 minutes and 113 balls to reach the mark after coming in when England had still to score.

It wasn't the most attractive of innings but it was functional under the circumstances and the decision to field an extra batsman, in Mark Ramprakash was rewarded when he and Hussain reached their 50 partnership off 101 balls.

Ramprakash was able to play the attacking game that is his bent, twice putting balls from Chris Cairns high over the slips cordon to the boundary.

One shot against Astle when he gave him the charge and square drove him for four was a fine delivery.

However, on 31, he had the misfortune to get a ball from Astle that came back into him from outside off. There was a sound and new elite panel umpire Asoka De Silva gave him out, although replays showed the ball had hit his pad rather than the bat.

Just before the drinks break, Hussain had a let off when he edged Chris Drum to Stephen Fleming at first slip, and the New Zealand captain put him down. He was 53 at the time.

After a superb opening spell from Chris Cairns, who took three wickets for 32 runs in his seven overs, England went to lunch on 89/4. Nasser Hussain was 31 not out, scored off 74 balls while Mark Ramprakash was six not out having negotiated through 10 probing balls from Drum before scoring.

In the second over Graham Thorpe and Hussain worked on consolidating the innings with a minimum of risk, although one shot played by Thorpe, a flick off his hip from Ian Butler's bowling flew neatly over fine leg for six runs.

They ran quick singles with effect but there were signs of frustration. Thorpe, beaten when fishing at a wider ball from Butler, shaped as if to knock over his wickets with the bat as he remonstrated with himself.

Thorpe undid all the work when following a wide ball from Chris Drum and Stephen Fleming made no mistake in holding a straight forward chance which gave him his 96th Test catch.

Thorpe was out for 17 off 42 balls. He hit one four and one six while adding 37 runs for the fourth wicket.

Butler was given five overs when coming on as first change and apart from the six hit by Thorpe, and a four off driven by Hussain, was generally sound and he ended with 26 runs off his overs.

However, the steadying hand of Chris Drum was a key element of the battle plan for Fleming. With England looking to hold on until lunch there was only one run scored in six overs immediately before the break.

Drum had one for 25 from his 12 overs while Astle bowled three overs and had three maidens.

Cairns was the early destroyer taking the first three wickets to fall in the first hour as England reached 51/3. Nasser Hussain was 14 and Thorpe four at the break with Cairns having three for 32.

Cairns repaid Stephen Fleming's faith in giving him the new ball for the first over of the Test match in sensational fashion.

Having slipped two balls just wide of Marcus Trescothick's bat, he had better luck with the third as Trescothick lunged forward a little and the ball flicked the bat and found its way safely into Adam Parore's gloves.

Mark Butcher, preferred at No 3 after Michael Vaughan opened, came out and dropped the first ball from Cairns at his feet. He attempted to turn the second ball he faced to the leg-side.

However, the ball took the leading edge and flew back down the pitch where mid on fieldsman Ian Butler raced forward and took the catch.

England were two wickets down without scoring and Cairns was two wickets closer to the 200 mark that he was seeking. He was on 196 at that stage.

Vaughan, appeared completely non-plussed by the events and took eight off Chris Drum's first over, including a second ball six exquisitely timed to lob over backward square leg.

Nasser Hussain also helped himself to four runs to result in 12 runs coming from it.

Facing Cairns, Vaughan had fewer problems than his predecessors and took six runs behind square leg.

Hussain also took four from an off-drive from Cairns. They started to use the quick single to restore the innings.

In his sixth over, Cairns was pulled by Vaughan to mid-wicket off the front foot for four runs. The next ball was fuller and beat Vaughan as he played forward but there was no edge.

He repeated the ball with his next delivery and this time Vaughan got the slightest of touches and his 31 ball innings for 27 ended to leave England 46/3.

It was a vital blow for Fleming after he revved up the pre-Test war of words by accusing England of a lack of respect for New Zealand's deeds in winning the last series between the two and for generally under-rating New Zealand's achievements.

The pitch has a green look to it, quite appropriate given the Jade Stadium name.

England have opted to go for the extra batsman and have named Mark Ramprakash in their XI and have left out Craig White.

New Zealand have predictably left out Chris Martin.

The weather in Christchurch is fine, slightly overcast with a slight breeze. It is expected to remain fine all day. The outfield looks a picture, which is no mean feat given the fact a Super 12 rugby match was played on the ground on Saturday evening.

Umpires today are new Elite panel umpire Asoka de Silva and New Zealand umpire Brent Bowden.

The teams are:

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Mark Richardson, Matthew Horne, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Adam Parore, Daniel Vettori, Chris Drum, Ian Butler. Chris Martin (12th man).

England: Nasser Hussain (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Michael Vaughan, Mark Ramprakash, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Ashley Giles, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard. Craig White (12th man).