Kevin Pietersen broke out of his recent form slump to rescue England and guide it to 240 for seven at the close on the first day of the third Test against New Zealand on Saturday. Pietersen, who had not made a Test score above 50 since August, was dismissed for 129 and shared in good partnerships with Paul Collingwood (30) and Stuart Broad (42 not out). New Zealand debutant pace bowler Tim Southee had made a dream start, taking two wickets in his first spell as England slumped to 58 for four at lunch and 150 for six at tea. Southee then returned after New Zealand took the second new ball and dismissed the dangerous Pietersen, who shared a 89-run partnership with Collingwood and 61-run stand with Broad. “The first over there were a few nerves, they were still there but to get a wicket under my belt early relieved a bit of pressure and it sort of went from there,” Southee told reporters. South African-born Pietersen, who had appeared to be lacking in confidence throughout the series, stroked 12 fours and one six on to the roof of the main stand at McLean Park before he was caught by Jamie How at gully. It was his 11th Test century. “At four for three I was thinking I have to get on because the pressure was on even more,' said Pietersen. “From a team point of view we have got 240 now and if the lads stick it out for an hour or a session tomorrow we could be 300 plus and we're in still, not out of the Test match.” Broad's stoic defense against the spin of Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel was a valuable asset during his partnership with Pietersen and he surpassed his previous test best score of 16. The 19-year-old Southee captured two early wickets in the first session. Southee trapped Michael Vaughan lbw for two with his 11th ball in Test cricket and had Andrew Strauss well caught in the gully by How for a duck. New ball partner Chris Martin bowled Alastair Cook for two to reduce England to 4-3 in the seventh over after winning the toss. Pietersen and Ian Bell managed to see off the new-ball attack before Bell played a poor shot to a Grant Elliott long hop and hit it straight back to the debutant all-rounder to be dismissed for nine. Collingwood and wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose both fell to Patel in the afternoon. Southee ended the day with figures of three for 46 and Patel two for 37.ScoreboardEngland (1st innings) Cook b Martin 02 Vaughan lbw b Southee 02 Strauss c How b Southee 00 Pietersen c How b Southee 129 Bell c & b Elliott 09 Collingwood c Elliott b Patel 30 Ambrose c Taylor b Patel 11 Broad not out 42 Sidebottom not out 03 Extras (lb-8, w-3, nb-1) 12 Total (for 7; 92 overs) 240 Falls: 1-4 (Vaughan), 2-4 (Strauss), 3-4 (Cook), 4-36 (Bell), 5-125 (Collingwood), 6-147 (Ambrose), 7-208 (Pietersen). Bowling: Martin 24-5-71-1 (2w), Southee 21-8-46-3 (1w), Elliott 10-2-27-1, Vettori 19-6-51-0, Patel 18-3-37
