England draw blank
10:50pm Thursday 21st March 2013 in National Sport News © Press Association 2013
Stuart Broad, right, found few reasons to be cheerful in the early stages of the third Test
England drew a blank in the first hour after choosing to bowl first in the final Test against New Zealand at Eden Park.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad's opening spells came to nought as Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton took the hosts to 31 without loss. Alastair Cook's gamble that this drop-in pitch might be at its mostly fruitful for bowlers in the first session therefore did not appear to be paying off.
There was precious little encouragement for England's frontline seam attack, including first change Steven Finn at the same venue where he gave Rutherford a torrid time in the tourists' one-day international victory last month.
This time, the nearest Finn came was when Rutherford inside-edged him on to his thigh-pad and away for a single wide of short-leg in his first over.
Rutherford had already driven Anderson down the ground to the short straight boundary for the first four of the match, and Fulton whipped Broad off his legs for his opening boundary and then cut Finn over point for another.
Anderson twice beat Rutherford on the back foot, and then had Fulton edging high and just past third slip to go from 12 to 16.
There were no clear-cut chances on an apparently easy-paced and true pitch.
But there was enough life in it for Anderson to hit Rutherford on the grille of the helmet with a short ball in his eighth over.
England made just one enforced change in this potential series decider, after the rain-affected draws in Dunedin and Wellington, Jonny Bairstow replacing the injured Kevin Pietersen.
The Kiwis have kept the same team throughout, resisting the temptation here to fast-track Doug Bracewell back into the team after his recovery from a gashed foot.
