KEY POINTS:
The momentum has swung again, with England heading to the series showdown against New Zealand in Napier with new-found confidence on the back of their resurgent second cricket test victory at the Basin Reserve in Wellington yesterday.
A summer of fluctuating fortunes found England's favour in the capital despite the tourists shelling six catches and a stumping before completing a 126-run victory to level the series 1-1 early on day five.
It was mana from heaven for the thousands of English fans that dominated the crowd on the final morning and visiting captain Michael Vaughan, who presided over his side's first win on foreign soil since India were beaten in Mumbai two years ago.
Vaughan was delighted with his side's dramatic turn around after dropping the first test to New Zealand at Hamilton by 189-runs last Sunday.
"As I said after Hamilton, playing a game so soon after a poor performance is the best thing. We've answered in a positive fashion," he said.
The key now was maintaining the momentum to secure a 2-1 series victory in the third test starting at McLean Park on Saturday.
"We'll be trying but a week in cricket is a long time as it's just shown. We'll do exactly the same over the next week.
"We'll celebrate - it's been a long while since we've won a game but we'll make sure we get our heads on and train very hard leading into that game in Napier.
"It sets the series up brilliantly now, 1-1."
Vaughan credited wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose's maiden test century with setting up the win but the new-look bowling attack spearheaded by James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom applied the finishing touches with five wicket bags.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori admitted the swing bowling of Anderson placed his side on the back foot.
Anderson took five for 73 and was instrumental in dismissing the hosts for 198 in their first innings on Saturday.
"You have to look at the way Anderson bowled,"Vettori said.
"For us to be bowled out for 198 was purely down to him. He hit the right lengths early on and did a really good job."
Vettori lamented the inability of his pace attack to match their collective performance at Seddon Park.
Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram were economical but Chris Martin could not replicate his damaging form and had to settle for a match analysis of three for 157.
"I thought Jacob and Kyle were outstanding in the way they bowled on this wicket, " Vettori said.
"Chris may be a bit disappointed but we will give the seamers a bit of a rest before the final test.
"They've had a huge workload over the last two tests and hopefully they can get a rest and come into the third test on a wicket that we know will be extremely flat and a tough ask for our bowlers and probably another five-day test."
The New Zealand selectors opted against making changes to their 13-man squad although 19-year-old Northern Districts paceman Tim Southee has been added.
However, he is unlikely to feature, with Vettori indicating fellow-spin bowler Jeetan Patel may be of more use on a dead wicket.
"We know what to expect. It'll be a good deck and tough work for the bowlers but that was the same at Hamilton and we expect the same thing from them in Napier," Vettori said.
"It always does (have more pace than Hamilton) but if you get a couple days of sun then it will tend to slow down a little bit and it's generally quite a good cricket wicket."
Although history suggests a stalemate should both batting lineups produce, Vettori was optimistic of a positive outcome for the home side.
"We are attacking by nature. We can't change that. To have won a one-day series and then to win a test series against a good England team when people thought we weren't going to compete will be a huge result for us so we want to go out on a high note after a very long season."
Vaughan was also upbeat about England winning their first series abroad since a 2-1 win in South Africa in 2004-05.
"There are areas we need to work on and improve and if we do that I'm sure we can put New Zealand under some more pressure," he said.
- NZPA
