New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was dismissed three runs short of a century as England fought their way back into the second Test at Headingley on Friday.

At the close of the second day, New Zealand were still handily placed at 351 for six with Chris Cairns on 41 and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum on 31.

After adding 169 for the second wicket with Michael Papps (86), Fleming was caught off a leading edge for 97, the fourth time he has been dismissed in the 90s in Tests.

In the next over Nathan Astle fell for two to an excellent catch by Mark Butcher in the slips, throwing himself to his left and taking the ball in both hands.

Astle's wicket was the second for Martin Saggers, who was a late callup following injuries to Simon Jones and James Anderson.

New Zealand negotiated the morning session without losing a wicket after resuming on 41 for one after Thursday's rain-interrupted opening day.

The England pace attack generally bowled too short and they were again let down by their fielders.

Papps, who was dropped on 15 and 20 on Thursday, was put down by Ashley Giles in the gully off Flintoff when he had scored 36.

CHANCE SQUANDERED

While Giles was receiving treatment to his left hand, substitute fielder Paul Collingwood squandered a runout opportunity when he missed the stumps from short range with Fleming well out of his ground after Papps had called for a risky single.

The Kiwi skipper was then forced to dive to make his ground when England captain Michael Vaughan threw down the stumps with a direct throw but recovered quickly to pull Matthew Hoggard emphatically to the mid-wicket boundary.

He brought up his 50 from 107 balls with six boundaries by pushing Giles to leg for a single in the penultimate over before lunch.

Papps, playing only his fourth Test, reached his second Test half-century immediately after the interval with a cut for two to third man.

After making 86 in 324 minutes from 232 balls, he was finally dismissed lbw with a full delivery from Flintoff bowling around the wicket.

After the dangerous Astle had fallen cheaply, Scott Styris (21) and Jacob Oram (39) added 48 for the fifth wicket.

Styris was caught behind pushing tamely at the first ball of a new spell by Steve Harmison and Oram, who had top-edged one attempted hook for six, was well held by Graham Thorpe tumbling to his right at second slip off Flintoff.

Cairns and McCullum batted with a sensible blend of concentration and aggression, adding 58 for the seventh wicket on a sunlit evening.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings): (overnight 41-1)
M.Richardson b Saggers 13
M.Papps lbw Flintoff 86
S.Fleming c Vaughan b Harmison 97
N.Astle c Butcher b Saggers 2
S.Styris c Jones b Harmison 21
J.Oram c Thorpe b Flintoff 39
C.Cairns not out 41
B.McCullum not out 31.

Extras: (b-5, lb-14, w-2) 21

Total: (for six wickets, 124 overs) 351

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-202, 3-215, 4-215, 5-263, 6-293

To bat: D.Vettori, D.Tuffey, C.Martin.

Bowling: Hoggard 23-4-78-0, Harmison 31-7-65-2 (1w), Flintoff 23-7-52-2, Saggers 24-6-64-2 (1w), Trescothick 2-0-3-0, Giles 19-1-67-0, Vaughan 2-0-3-0.

England: M.Trescothick, A.Strauss, M.Butcher, M.Vaughan, G.Thorpe, A.Flintoff, G.Jones, A.Giles, M.Hoggard, S.Harmison, M.Saggers.