SPORTS

England win Test and series

June 07, 2004 19:11 IST

England's pace attack skittled New Zealand for 161 runs on a difficult Headlingley surface before cruising to a nine-wicket triumph in the second Test to seal the series.

Matthew Hoggard, with four wickets, and Steve Harmison, with three, ended the tourists' resistance after an entertaining opening to Monday's final day before England knocked off their target of 45 on an increasingly erratic pitch.

Marcus Trescothick (30 not out) pulled the winning boundary as England won in the run-up to lunch, securing an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

"We have got to go back to the drawing board. The series has gone. We have been well and truly outplayed," said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

The series win was sweet revenge for 1999, when the New Zealanders beat England 2-1 on home soil. England, however, have since climbed from bottom of the world rankings to third.

They head for Trent Bridge on Thursday with a chance of completing the first whitewash between the sides since England's 3-0 home success in 1978 under Michael Brearley.

English wicketkeeper Geraint Jones was named man of the match for his maiden Test century in the first innings followed by an impressive display behind the stumps.

The tourists, hampered by a string of injuries before and during the match, had resumed on 102 for five, still 15 behind, and, with the pitch misbehaving, opted for all-out attack as their only chance of defence.

Within 45 minutes, however, the innings was over.

Jacob Oram (36 not out off 32 balls) did his best to set a target with some explosive hitting, including two slogged sixes, as the runs flowed.

But the wickets kept tumbling as well. Hoggard made the early breakthrough when Scott Styris edged behind, Jones taking a spectacular one-handed catch diving across first slip.

The Yorkshire swing bowler then trapped danger man Chris Cairns lbw for 10.

Harmison joined in after a poor opening spell when Michael Papps, coming in at nine because of a broken finger, played a rising delivery into the hands of captain Michael Vaughan at silly mid-off.

Spinner Daniel Vettori was unable to bat after tearing his hamstring on Sunday. Chris Martin was the last man out, run out by Jones after Oram tried to steal a bye to keep the strike.

Vaughan, who became a father for the first time during the match, said: "It can't come better than this. We had a little baby, I'm playing on my home ground and we have clinched a series win against a very good New Zealand side."

Hoggard took four for 75 with Harmison, who took seven wickets in the match, backing him up with three for 57.

Despite a difficult wicket of varying bounce, New Zealand scored 409 in their first innings, followed by the home side's 526.

England have now won five of their last six Tests.

Scorecard:

New Zealand first innings 409
(S.Fleming 97, M.Papps 86, B.McCullum 54; S.Harmison 4-74)

England first innings 526
(M.Trescothick 132, G.Jones 100, A.Flintoff 94, A.Strauss 62)

New Zealand second innings (overnight 102-5)
M.Richardson c Jones b Hoggard 40
S.Fleming c Strauss b Flintoff 11
B.McCullum c Trescothick b Harmison 20
N.Astle lbw b Hoggard 8
S.Styris c Jones b Hoggard 19
D.Tuffey c Jones b Harmison 7
J.Oram not out 36
C.Cairns lbw b Hoggard 10
M.Papps c Vaughan b Harmison 0
C.Martin run out 0
D.Vettori absent injured 0
Extras (b-4 lb-4 nb-2) 10
Total (all out, 42 overs) 161

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-75, 3-77, 4-84, 5-91, 6-118, 7-144, 8-149, 9-161

Bowling: Hoggard 15-4-75-4 (nb-2), Harmison 16-5-57-3, Flintoff 6-0-16-1, Saggers 5-3-5-0

England second innings
M.Trescothick not out 30
A.Strauss c Astle b Tuffey 10
M.Butcher not out 5
Extras 0
Total (for one wicket, 8 overs) 45

Fall of wicket: 1-18

Bowling: Martin 4-1-17-0, Tuffey 4-0-28-1

Result: England won by nine wickets.

First Test: Lord's, London - England won by seven wickets.

Third Test: Trent Bridge, Nottingham - June 10-14.

Source: REUTERS
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