Anderson on guard

James Anderson removes Jamie How, his second wicket © Getty Images

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James Anderson warned England to beware the dangerous New Zealand middle order as both sides battle to gain an early advantage in the opening npower Test at Lord’s.

The Lancashire seamer helped England enjoy a superb start to the three-Test series, claiming two early wickets and another on the stroke of tea as the tourists slumped to 104 for five after being put in to bat.

But by the time bad light and rain halted play after only 52.1 overs, New Zealand had recovered to reach 208 for six thanks to Brendon McCullum’s superb run-a-ball 97.

They will resume today with all-rounder Jacob Oram and captain Daniel Vettori at the crease and Anderson is wary of the threat they pose to England’s hopes of limiting them to a lowly first-innings total.

“Their middle order is pretty dangerous with Oram in at number seven now and Vettori at number eight - it’s very strong and experienced,” Anderson said.

“That’s something we have to be wary of and if we do get early wickets like the we did yesterday we can’t expect to bowl them out cheaply every time because they have got strength in depth.”

Oram helped McCullum, who hit two sixes and 13 fours in his innings, add 99 off 114 balls before he was bowled by left-arm spinner Monty Panesar just two overs before New Zealand accepted the offer of bad light.

McCullum accelerated quickly after tea having started his innings in conservative fashion, adding 61 off 42 balls after the interval.

“For the first period it was hard to gauge the pitch and the consistency and pace of bounce so it was very hard to adapt your game accordingly,” he said.

“It wasn’t until later on that I felt I’d started to get the pace of it and that was when I started to get a touch more aggressive.”

But McCullum believes that if New Zealand can add another hundred runs, it will be competitive enough to put England under pressure for the remainder of the match.

“Somewhere around 300 or 350 would be a fantastic effort after losing the toss on that wicket,” he added.

“That’s obviously our goal and if we do that we will bowl with a lot of confidence that we can certainly hold our own in this game and hopefully give ourselves an opportunity further down the track.

“It’s not a bad effort for us and it’s a very good result for us after being 100 for five.”