Sidebottom struck a crucial late blow by removing McCullum

McCullum fell after blasting 51 as the Kiwis reached stumps on 282-6.

"McCullum was more or less into full one-day mode, which was going to be dangerous," said England coach Moores.

"It was important to get him out. It gives us an end to bowl at and an opportunity to get some early wickets to put them under pressure."

It looks a good wicket and we should be able to get a decent score if we can get a few batters in Peter Moores

Alastair Cook took three sharp catches and Paul Collingwood two as England had New Zealand on 191-5 at one stage.

"They've worked extremely hard on their catching and it's nice for them to get some reward," added Moores.

"Alastair has worked very hard. He's a deliberate learner, he learns progressively, has strong hands and he's been catching well in practice, so to take that into the game is great."

On a slow wicket that favoured batsmen, England plugged away, particularly Ryan Sidebottom.

Spinner Monty Panesar also bowled with control, to earn the praise of his coach.

"The real key to us was Monty. He created a lot of pressure and allowed us to chip away," stated Moores, who is hopeful Ian Bell will be able to bat, despite suffering heavy bruising on his wrist.

"It's not a pitch you can fight against, it's a bit attritional. It looks a good wicket and we should be able to get a decent score if we can get a few batters in."

I haven't played well in Test cricket up to now and when you look at the stats you're a bit embarrassed Jamie How

Before McCullum's late aggression, New Zealand's innings was built around a patient 92 from Jamie How.

The opener went into the game with a Test average of 14.55 and top score of 37 and he was pleased to improve that, despite missing out on a maiden century.

"At the start of the day if someone gave you 92 you'd be happy but it still hurts and I'll be replaying that last over in my head for quite a while," he said.

"England's bowlers bowled really well, it was a hard slog all day and it's shown by the run rate - it was tough work out there but it would have been nice to cap it off.

"I haven't played well in Test cricket up to now and when you look at the stats you're a bit embarrassed.