Ambrose in a hurry

Tim Ambrose drives during his unbeaten 97 © Getty Images

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Tim Ambrose admitted he “got a bit too excited” in trying to complete his hundred after spearheading an England fightback in the second Test against New Zealand.

The Warwickshire wicketkeeper finished unbeaten on 97 having dominated a 155-run partnership with Paul Collingwood which guided the tourists to a comfortable 291 for five after being put in on the opening day at the Basin Reserve.

Ambrose, playing only his second Test match, looked certain to complete an eventful opening day by reaching his first century at this level but was unable to claim the boundary required in the final over and played out a maiden to all-rounder Jacob Oram.

It left him just short of the milestone and Ambrose revealed: “I wanted to get myself in the right frame of mind for the last over.

“I wanted to get the hundred, not just for myself but for the crowd, who had been brilliant for the whole of the last session - I really wanted to finish the day off on a high.

“I thought I might get one ball in the over that was short and wide and I could get my hands on it. He did give me one, but I’m afraid I got a bit too excited and tried to hit the ball a little bit too hard.”

Ambrose hit 15 fours and two sixes during his 160 minutes at the crease and turned around the day for England, who had lost five wickets in 23 overs immediately after lunch.

Seamer Jacob Oram was New Zealand's star performer with figures of 2-25 © Getty Images

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The tourists had looked on course for a major total after the disappointment of their 189-run first Test defeat, with openers Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook forging a 79-run stand.

But the top order failed to fire to leave England reeling on 136 for five when Ambrose walked to the crease.

England coach Peter Moores told Sky Sports 1: “He played really nice, really nice.

“He’s always been a strong cutter.

“What was nice today was that he’s worked very hard at getting into the ball.”

He added of Ambrose and Collingwood’s defiant stand: “Partnerships as always have been keys to games of cricket because they take the momentum away from the opposition.

“They’ve done that in that last session and put us in a very strong position.”

New Zealand’s star performer on day one was Oram who finished with impressive figures of 22-10-25-2.

“It was a funny day that seemed to work in thirds,” conceded Oram.

“They dominated the first session, we had the second session and the last one was all theirs. They played positively, they took the game to us and maybe we just didn’t handle the pressure they were putting on us.

“If you put a side in on day one then you try and bowl them out as soon as you can. At 291 for five, maybe you’ve got to question if we’d be happy with that.

“I still think in that middle session, when they were 130-odd for five, we were right on course to bowl them out early and they just got away in the final session.”