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England make shocking start
ENGLAND'S hopes of finishing
off their tour of New
Zealand by claiming victory
in the final Test was undermined
by two early wickets
from debutant seamer Tim
Southee today.
The tourists appeared to
have claimed a major advantage
by winning the toss and
deciding to bat first on a flatlooking
surface against opponents
who included two
debutants in 19-year-old
Southee and South Africanborn
all-rounder Grant Elliott.
But England's hopes of
recording a major total were
quickly undermined with
swing bowler Southee, man
of the tournament at the recent
Under-19 World Cup in
Malaysia, claiming two
wickets in his first three
overs as the tourists slumped
to seven for three inside the
first seven overs.
England appeared to have
all the momentum following
their comfortable 126-run
victory in Wellington, while
New Zealand lost both allrounder
Jacob Oram and
seamer Kyle Mills to injury
before the start of the Test.
By contrast, the tourists
were able to name an unchanged
team, with both allrounder
Paul Collingwood
(bruised calf) and seamer
Jimmy Anderson (left ankle)
able to pass themselves fit.
The momentum soon shifted
to New Zealand, however,
with Southee claiming a
wicket with his 11th ball by
swinging the ball into England
captain Michael Vaughan's
pads and winning a regulation
lbw appeal from
umpire Rudi Koertzen.
Just six balls later,
Southee took his second
wicket in Test cricket and
continued Andrew Strauss'
miserable run at this level
after the Middlesex left-hander
drove loosely outside off
stump and was caught
smartly in the gully by
Jamie How for a duck.
Strauss, recalled after
missing the series defeat in
Sri Lanka before Christmas,
took his tally for the series to
just 107 runs in five innings
and it is now seven innings
since his last half-century.
Opener Alastair Cook followed
in the next over when
he pushed forward to seamer
Chris Martin and got an
inside edge onto his stumps
for two as England lost three
wickets without adding a
run in just 17 balls.
It left both Ian Bell and
Kevin Pietersen with the responsibility
of guiding the
tourists to a respectable
total, knowing they must
end the dismal run of eight
Tests without a first-innings
century for any member of
the top six.
8:59am Saturday 22nd March 2008
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