KEY POINTS:
New Zealand feel they have knocked an overconfident England down a few notches and can win three in a row to complete an unlikely one-day international cricket series victory.
It may sound an outlandish claim but New Zealand vice-captain Brendon McCullum insisted the momentum swing was notable in the second match in Birmingham despite it ending in a controversial no-result.
New Zealand were poised one over from an eight-wicket victory when the rain arrived to leave them winless from their past eight matches against England, six of them on the current tour.
"We know we've made a huge step forward in our ability to win this series, from where we were a few days ago," McCullum told NZPA as the side travelled to Bristol for Saturday's third ODI, still trailing 0-1.
"England have taken a stride back, and maybe realise they're not as a good an ODI unit as what they were giving themselves credit for.
"We were down in the dumps and weren't playing as well as we knew we could. We still didn't play outstandingly well yesterday but it was good, solid cricket.
"If we can put them under more pressure from the start I've got no doubt we can win this series."
McCullum played a big part, anchoring the Edgbaston run chase in an imposing 51-ball innings of 60 not out.
It showed how important his success is to the New Zealand team's fortunes as they coasted towards their target of nearly seven runs per over.
Earlier, an impressive fielding effort, a three-wicket haul on debut from Grant Elliott and some early inroads from senior paceman Kyle Mills added up to New Zealand's best all-round showing of a harrowing tour.
New Zealand, who won the home series 3-1, entered the current series ranked third in the world to England's seventh, with the rankings since changed to fourth and sixth respectively.
England dominated the Twenty20 international and the first ODI in Durham, but that was more due to New Zealand's inadequacies than the home side's good play, McCullum said.
"They're a confident side when they're in front and they managed to run away with the Twenty20 and the first ODI.
"But there has been a momentum shift and we've got no reason to believe we can't beat them three in a row."
Still, England didn't seem overly perturbed by the no-result and remained confident of taking out the series.
Opener Luke Wright, who labelled McCullum his batting role model as he flayed 52 off 38 balls, disputed whether New Zealand had gained a points advantage.
"When we came off I think we'd dragged it back in the last few overs and we just felt we were one wicket from maybe winning the game, especially if that wicket had been McCullum," Wright said.
"At that stage when we came off I think both sides probably thought they had a chance of winning. I'm sure New Zealand would have thought they were favourites."
Meanwhile, McCullum hopes he can bring up a significant milestone in the final three ODI's, having brought up his 13th ODI half-century.
"I've had to work hard on changing gears, how hard to attack at times and when to step back a bit. I pride myself on that.
"I've learned some pretty good lessons in domestic cricket about converting big scores.
"I haven't scored an ODI hundred yet but if I get into a situation where I can kick on and turn these scores into big hundreds, I'm confident I can do it."
- NZPA
