New Zealand failed to learn from the lessons they dished out to England in Wellington when going down by 43 runs in Napier last night.

Whereas in Wellington the New Zealanders built a dominant and winning position by developing partnerships, they failed to do that in Napier, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said.

While New Zealand might have dropped their level a little, England had upped the ante as the home side knew they would.

"We didn't respond as well as we could have.

"The key difference was partnerships," he said. England had made use of them in their top four and New Zealand hadn't.

They were quite happy with the prospect of chasing 240 to win but again they lost wicket in clumps which had been their problem in the latter part of their Australian tour.

Fleming decided to bowl first after winning his first toss of the National Bank Series and was aware that the team batting second had won seven times in the last eight games at Napier. The ball had moved around a lot on the track during both innings.

The two rain breaks had also had an impact on the game, the first one to New Zealand's advantage and the second to England's benefit.

Paul Collingwood had achieved "prodigious swing" and England had better options available on the night. Fleming knew what he was capable of having seen him in action in England last year.

Darren Gough had also bowled well again, and it wasn't just due to the conditions at McLean Park.

"He's good anywhere," Fleming said.

New Zealand would like to have closed out the series last night but the result put more of an edge on the next two games.

"And we've got to be on the right side of it," he said.

© CricInfo