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A jubilant New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori hurled the winning catch skywards then declared it one of his most satisfying one-day international victories.
The team then converged in an ecstatic huddle and savoured their first success - a 22-run win - in seven matches against their English hosts on tour.
Inspired by Kyle Mills' allround effort, which earned him man-of-the-match ahead of worthy contenders Tim Southee and Grant Elliott, New Zealand somehow defended a skinny 182 in the third ODI at Bristol's jam-packed County Ground. England were all out for 160 with 22 balls remaining.
For Vettori, any win would have sufficed after five weeks of frustration against England as the tourists head to London with the momentum at 1-1 with two matches to play.
"Our performance was one of our better ones, and it's the sort of victory you always remember, defending 180, up against it and some guys really standing up," he said.
"Obviously it's been a tough tour and it still gives us a chance to win the series. If we'd lost here, 0-2 down, it would have been tough to get everyone up for the last two games."
A bleak week in London beckoned as New Zealand slumped to 49 for five after being mesmerised by England pacemen James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett.
Two unlikely rescuers emerged in Elliott and Mills who paired up at a dire 110 for seven.
A week earlier, allrounder Elliott was playing for the Weybridge club in the Surrey league, before Jacob Oram's hamstring strain earned him a callup. After an excellent three for 25 on debut in the Birmingham washout, Elliott saved New Zealand's innings with a patient 56 off 102 balls after arriving in the 14th over.
He departed in the 49th, having provided the platform for Mills, who surpassed his highest ODI score of 44 not out against Australia in 2004.
Mills whacked 47 off 40 balls, including two sixes, to help take a vital 50 off the last five overs. Then he laced up the bowling boots to remove dangermen Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen inside the first five overs.
If New Zealand's top-order were disappointing on the pacy surface, England's batsmen imploded against some tight bowling and offered nine catches which were gleefully accepted.
In just his third ODI, Southee conceded 23 off his first three overs but Vettori kept the faith and the 19-year-old produced a devastating spell of three for none in eight balls - all catches behind the wicket.
With heavy cloud building and rain threatening, Duckworth-Lewis calculation sheets were out and it seemed captain Paul Collingwood might see England home.
But Southee did the job with his penultimate ball, trapping Collingwood lbw for 34 to end with four for 38. Vettori removed Broad, then Elliott sealed it when Tremlett skied a catch.
Vettori said there was no magic formula to their turnaround after being outclassed in the series opener in Durham.
"If I knew that, I'd bottle it and sell it. There's been a lot of talking and we put it back on the individuals to lift their performances.
"We've talked about when we're a good side we field outstandingly, and I think that's tripped the switch for us."
Elliott's performance booked his place for the final two matches, with Vettori saying Oram was on target to return as a batsman only at The Oval on Wednesday.
Collingwood meanwhile couldn't quite believe his side let it slip.
"We're very disappointed we didn't take an opportunity to be pretty ruthless, to go 2-0 up. We kept on losing wickets, we kept either nicking them or hitting them straight to fielders."
And New Zealand got rich praise from the English newspapers.
"All of the home team's superior talent counted for nothing because New Zealand made everything of what they had. Small was beautiful; big a touch complacent," said the Observer.
- NZPA
