Both sides have compelling cases but perhaps England emerged with more momentum.
Slideshow: NZ v. England Cricket Test
England was 421 for six when both sides agreed to a draw. New Zealand made all the play and England was definitely shaken out of its apathy.
Its little holiday in the South Pacific ended when the world No 2 was dismissed for a paltry 167 on day two.
But having had to bat for the best part of two days to save the first test, the touring side has, through defence, arguably seized the initiative before the second test at the Basin Reserve on Thursday.
New Zealand, for its part, will be wondering how on earth it was able to roll England in 55 overs only for nightwatchman Steven Finn to bat for longer than that during England's the second innings.
The lifeless nature of the University Oval pitch provided some clues.
Finn took 50 deliveries to advance his score from 53 to 54 and received a round of ironic applause for his swashbuckling efforts.
Even Geoffrey Boycott may have been tempted to run Finn out had he been out there batting rather than in the commentary box calling the ''action''.
New Zealand was able to assert some late pressure through the dismissal of Kevin Pietersen (12) and the run out of Joe Root (0). Suddenly Black Caps supporters shifted to the edge of their seats when they realised England was six down and only 97 runs ahead with 30 overs remaining.
The third new ball was New Zealand's last throw of the dice but Matt Prior and Ian Bell proved up to the task. There was to be no fairytale ending for New Zealand.
''To be able to bowl as well as what we did [on day two] and get the results for it was outstanding'' New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said.
''From there we were always in front of the game.
''England was able to resist us over those last two days. But even up until that last couple of overs I still thought we had a [chance].
''We gave it everything we possibly could.''
England captain Alastair Cook accepted his side was on the back foot for the entirety of the game but was pleased with the way the team rallied.
''It is very hard to come back from the situation we found ourselves in but we managed to dig ourselves out of a hole,'' Cook said.
''When you get bowled out for 160, as a batting unit you can start to have negative thoughts, but to bounce back straight away [was pleasing].''
England resumed day five on 234 for one, trailing by just 59 runs.
New Zealand dominated day two and day three but the touring sides showed some mettle on the penultimate day with Cook (116) and Nick Compton (117) sharing in an England-record opening stand against New Zealand of 231.
Earlier, McCullum and Bruce Martin swatted 45 runs from five overs to help New Zealand get into a position to declare at 460 for nine.
But right from the onset yesterday it become obvious the final day was going to be a long grind.
Compton was trapped lbw by Neil Wagner but he had batted for seven hours in total and his partnership with Cook went a long way towards making the game safe for England.
England was 329 for two at lunch and New Zealand needed a good session to revive a match which had spent the morning on life-support.
Rutherford's fabulous debut innings of 171, and England's first-innings capitulation, was a kind of tonic for New Zealand cricket fans thirsty for some good news. Sadly, the fillip was watered down during the next two days with even Finn demonstrating batting on the wicket was about as challenging as weeding the garden - monotonous and tedious, yes, but simple enough.
Finn brought up is maiden test half-century with a nick through the slip cordon. It did not carry, of course. You need some pace and bounce for that to happen.
Even Jonathan Trott's wicket did little to rouse the game from its deep slumber. Interest just shifted to whether Pietersen would avoid a pair. He crushed those fantasies immediately, turning a delivery from Neil Wagner off his pads for two.
Finn's long vigil (4hr 44min) came to an end shortly after the tea break. He walked off to a standing ovation with a new first-class high score of 56 and the satisfaction of knowing he had helped salvage a draw for his country.
