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Sidebottom the England hero as Test series levelled
RYAN SIDEBOTTOM ended England's
long wait for an overseas
victory by claiming a five-wicket
haul to secure a 126-run triumph
over New Zealand in the second
Test.
The Nottinghamshire seamer
grabbed two wickets on the final
morning at Wellington to finish
with five for 105 as New Zealand
were dismissed for 311 despite a
battling 85 from wicketkeeper
Brendon McCullum.
It was only England's second
win in 17 overseas Tests and their
first Test triumph of any kind for
eight matches.
England captain Michael
Vaughan hailed the performance
of his players.
It was a poor display in Hamilton
and I can't speak highly
enough of everyone connected to
the team," said the skipper.
"The way we responded was
magnificent.
We lost the toss and we would
have bowled but the defining moment
was that Paul Collingwood
and Tim Ambrose to get us to a
score.
We then attacked them when
they batted and a 140-odd lead on
that kind of pitch was a fair advantage.
The only thing we have not
done well is catch. It would have
been nice if we'd caught well but
a win's a win and we've not won
away since Mumbai two years
ago.''
England were ruthless in their
selection before the match, dropping
two of their 2005 Ashes heroes
in Matthew Hoggard and
Steve Harmison.
Vaughan admitted it was a
tough decision but felt James Anderson
and Stuart Broad vindicated
their recalls.
He said: It was a pure gut feeling.
It was a hard decision but
that decision proved to be the
right one. The two lads that came
in did well.''
The teams will now head to
Napier for a series decider starting
on Friday.
Resuming on 242 for six needing
a further 196 runs to claim
victory, the Kiwis were under
pressure from the start with Sidebottom
claiming the key wicket
of captain Daniel Vettori with
the 12th ball of the day.
Vettori, who has already
claimed two half-centuries in the
series, was capable of forging a
major partnership with hard-hitting
McCullum, but failed to
make a run before edging Sidebottom
low to Alastair Cook at
third slip.
But far from open up an end for
England, Kyle Mills arrived at
the crease with attacking intentions
and got off the mark with a
superbly-timed cover drive for
four off Sidebottom.
McCullum completed his halfcentury
with a chop into the
ground off Stuart Broad which
flew over the slip cordon to the
third man boundary.
He lost Mills just three overs
later, however, when Sidebottom
found the right line and length
and swung the ball into his pads
to win an lbw verdict from umpire
Rudi Koertzen.
New batsman Mark Gillespie
lasted 11 overs with McCullum
before England brought James
Anderson into the attack for the
first time in the morning.
Given pain-killers to overcome
his injured left ankle after his
first over, Anderson struck in his
second with Gillespie edging a
short ball behind to wicketkeeper
Tim Ambrose.
Faced with Chris Martin as his
partner, McCullum had no option
but to hit out and fell in the next
over when he drove left-arm spinner
Monty Panesar to long on
where, fittingly, Sidebottom
claimed the catch to complete the
emphatic victory.
12:25pm Monday 17th March 2008
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