England Wins Series!

Losing the first test and struggling at 0-1 in the test series, England bounced back beautifully to win the series 2-1. Their form has not been good in the recent past and this should givem them a good relief, especially winning the series abroad.

Monty Panesar took 6 for 126, his career best figures which helped England to win the test and the series. Sidebottom rocked in the first innings and Panesar did the same in the 2nd innings.

Resuming the day 222 for 5, England struck in the 9th over last ball. Taylor was catught by Collingwood for 74. McCullum was bowled in a gap of 3 over and became the 5th victim of Panesar.

A steady 48 run partnership didn't bother England too much because as they were already breaking partnerships often. Panesar removed Patel through a flight delivery which was swept fine but Broad dived and finished with a splendid catch. He was out for 18.

Vettori gave a simple catch to Ambrose and last batsman to be dismissed was Martin. Sidebottom uprooted the off-stump of Martin with that the wonderful series came to an end along with the Test Career of Stephen Fleming.

A positive for New Zealand was the few runs from Southee. In the first test, he took 5 wickets in the first innings and then scored 77 not out in the second innings. He provided good entertainment towards the end of the innings. He scored 77 off 40 balls with 4 fours and 9 sixes. He hit 5 sixes off Panesar including three sixes in the same over and 2 off Anderson.

Toss: England

Result: England won by 121 runs

Serires Result: England won the series 2-1

Player of the Match: Sidebottom (England)

Player of the Series: Sidebottom (England)

Short Score:

England 1st Innings: 253 all out in 96.1 overs (Pietersen 129, Collingwood 30, Broad 42, Martin 2 for 74, Southee 5 for 55, Patel 2 for 37)

New Zealand 1st Innings 168 all out in 48.4 overs (How 44, Fleming 59, Sidebottom 7 for 47, Broad 3 for 54)

England 2nd Innings 467 for 7 declared in 131.5 overs (Cook 37, Strauss 177, Pietersen 34, Bell 110, Ambrose 31, Broad 31 not out, Patel 2 for 104, Vettori 4 for 158)

New Zealand 2nd Innings 431 all out in 118.5 overs (Bell 69, Fleming 66, Taylor 74, McCulum 42, Vettori 43, Southee 77 Not Out, Broad 2 for 78, Panesar 6 for 126)

New Zealand on Top in the Final and Deciding Test! Pietersen scored century!

In the third and final test between England and New Zealand, Kevin Pietersen's century helped England to put a decent total on the board. After winning the toss and with the confidence carried over from the previous victory, England decided to bat first. May be, it back-fired and sure that they wouldn't be happy as they didn't use the opportunity to put a huge total on the board.

Though Vettori was unhappy that he didn't win the toss to bat first because of the missing two key players--Oram being one of them, when England slipped to 36 for 4, he should have been much happier that he lost it. Captain Vaughan was the first man to go for 2. Strauss followed him in with a duck, followed by Cook for 2, Bell who is expected to score and save England was also dismissed for 9 leaving England trail at 36 for 4 in 23.1 overs. Two of the four wickets were taken by the debutant Southee. Kevin Pietersen batted well, swept Vettori for a six and showed his aggression rather than staying in the crease and playing safe.

Collingwood scored 30 and added 89 runs for the 5th wicket with Pietersen. Ambrose also didn't last longer and was dismissed for a cheap 11. Once again, England continued to lose wickets and struggling at 147 for 6. New Zealand was hoping to remove England within 200, but Broad's unbeaten 42 with Pietersen helped England to go beyond 200 run mark. Pietersen scored his century after a long time (he didn't even score 50 in the last 10 innings that he played). He took 163 balls and 10 fours to reach his three figure mark. The new ball gave the break-through to the New Zelanders when Southee removed Pietersen for 129. When he was out, the score was 208 for 7. Broad with 42 and Sidebottom with 3 are in the crease and will resume the day tomorrow.

Short Score:
Toss: EnglandCurrent Position: New Zealand has upper hand
Englad 240 for 7 in 92 overs (Pietersen 129, Collingwood 30, Broad 42 batting, Southee 3 for 46, Patel 2 for 37)