• ‘You all forget that Jofra is very new to international cricket’ • Buttler blames second-day collapse for New Zealand dominance

Jos Buttler has urged people not expect too much of Jofra Archer so early in his Test career after a tough first outing with the ball in overseas conditions.

Archer was the seamer worked hardest by Joe Root during 201 overs of toil against New Zealand at Bay Oval, sending down 42 overs (for figures of one for 107) compared to Sam Curran’s 35 overs and 33 for Stuart Broad.

But though Buttler’s defence of this workload did not quite stack up – he claimed a five-man attack naturally equated to 40 overs apiece, despite six bowlers used – the wicketkeeper was right to point to Archer’s inexperience when assessing his figures.

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“I think you all forget Jofra is very new to international cricket,” said Buttler, who played with the 24-year-old at Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League before the quick bowler’s debut for England last summer.

“It’s his first overseas tour and the first time he’s bowled with a Kookaburra ball. He is a very special talent but he is only five games into his Test career.”

Archer earned a telling-off from the team management for riding a TV camera-operator’s Segway during a warm-up – the social media team for The Hundred seemed happy to use the photographs to promote the new tournament – while he and Root are still working on their communication over bowling plans.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jofra Archer rides a Segway before the first day’s play at Mount Maunganui. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Buttler said: “Jofra has broken on to the international scene with immense success but you can’t ask too much of him too soon. He’s still a very young man, learning lots along the way. Just because he’s a fantastic performer already and got such great attributes, it’s tough to ask too much of him and we shouldn’t do.”

Only twice this century have England spent longer in the field than during New Zealand’s 615 for nine declared: the 202 overs spent watching Brian Lara rack up a world-record 400 not out in Antigua in 2004 and 211 of them in Cape Town during 2016.

Buttler looked to lay the blame on the batsmen for their collapse on the second morning that turned a promising overnight score of 241 for four into 353 all out. With Chris Silverwood preaching a mantra of batting time going into his first Test in charge, it was a suboptimal first return on the coach’s words.

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Buttler said: “If we’re really critical, it’s the first-innings runs with the bat: New Zealand played a very patient game and showed us that on flat wickets [it is about] setting your sights very high. Just when you think you’re getting to a place where you need to be, there’s a lot more hard work to come to build those big scores.

“We have to learn to be able to do that. We’ve played a lot of Test cricket in different conditions over the past year where it’s been fast-forward cricket.”