Second Test: Matt Prior happy as England move into a strong position

Second Test: Matt Prior happy as England move into a strong position

Stuart Broad took two wickets in two balls and James Anderson removed Peter Fulton as England reduced New Zealand to 66-3.

This came after half-centuries from Kevin Pietersen and Prior had helped move England's total on to 465.

And Prior admitted: "We certainly would have taken this at the start of the day.

"Those couple of wickets at the end turned that last session, obviously. Hats off to the bowlers for grabbing that opportunity."

Rain is predicted for the final two days, but England will not allow that to cloud their judgment as they look move 1-0 up in the series.

Pace

"We can't worry about weather forecasts - the amount of times they've been horribly wrong, it's not something we're thinking about," added Prior.

"The wicket has changed enough to show it's going to deteriorate.

"It spun a little bit today as well, so that's good news for Monty (Panesar).

"There's still that bit of pace and carry, which we've seen tonight. So there's plenty for us to work with."

Prior had added 82 batting earlier and shared an eighth-wicket stand of 83 with Steven Finn.

"It was nice to contribute," said Prior. "But more important for me today was the contribution from Steven Finn."