New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is lamenting the absence of his first-choice bowling attack of Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Shayne O'Connor but backing their replacements with a longer term view in mind.

New Zealand saved the second Test with a plucky display of batting, ending on 158/4 when given a target of 356 off 86 overs, but in difficult conditions where any chase was always going to expose the home side.

England had held all the cards with the rough on the pitch with left-arm spinner Ashley Giles being able to dictate the pace of the chase and Fleming's feeling was, the more risks New Zealand took, the more it played into England's hands.

But Fleming rued the fact that his side could create opportunities but not sustain the attack to exploit them, and that came down to the inexperience of his attack.

"The guys that are missing are world-class players, and when you implement certain things they deliver and just offer the experience.

"We're missing that and while the young guys have got talent, I'll back them 100%, there are just some stages where we don't create enough pressure," he said.

"I still think that if we get England under a certain type of pressure which is going to take us playing well, I just look forward to that period because then you just think about winning the Test and creating options.

"And Test cricket is about creating options.

"When we create one, we are losing it fairly quickly. From my point of view I'd love to get in the position where we can put a little more pressure on them and sustain that for a little bit longer," he said.

The final National Bank Test in Auckland offered a chance for New Zealand to at least tie the series and with another drop-in pitch there was the opportunity for a result.

He was still very keen to tie the series, because it was one he had dearly wanted to win when he had the side at full strength.

There was satisfaction the series was still alive but he conceded that for most of the game New Zealand were outplayed.

"We are pleased we have kept the series alive because that took another type of determination, and we showed that today, so we can go to Auckland with still the chance to finish the season well.

"The English are bowling very well as a unit, and as a unit they are able to apply pressure and [Nasser] Hussain is captaining the team very well and using his field placings very well.

"Andrew Caddick is performing very well in both areas. He's going for no runs and he's also taking wickets. He's providing a good spearhead for his captain.

"They are able to dictate to us a little more probably than we are. When they bat we are probably giving them too many four balls right from ball one and they are able to get away to a healthy run rate. It takes the pressure off then our areas of attack are minimalised.

"We were very happy to get through today, we would have been very disappointed if we didn't get through today. That's a good thing," Fleming said.

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