KEY POINTS:
Lou Vincent and Ross Taylor revealed themselves as two of the World Cup brightest hopes last night, confirming their side's batting resurgence as New Zealand beat England by 58 runs in the ninth match of the tri-series.
Hot on the heels of Sunday night's storming 335 against Australia,
the New Zealand side went a long way towards erasing memories of their early-season run drought, posting 318 for seven at the WACA before restricting England to 260 for eight.
The English briefly raised hopes of a close contest at the start of the chase, but were strangled through the middle of the innings by a combination of Daniel Vettori's suffocating left-arm spin and some impressive New Zealand ground fielding.
The best moment for the New Zealanders arrived in the 28th over when man of the match Vincent swooped on a ball at mid-on and ran out England's main hope Ed Joyce with a direct hit at the bowler's end.
From then on, England's chances nose-dived.
Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff departed within the next eight overs and the side's main objective became not winning, but avoiding conceding a bonus point.
New Zealand's triumph means they have all but made the best-of-three tri-series finals, as their five-point buffer will now force England to win their last two games - one of them by a handsome margin - to stand a chance.
Since returning from the wilderness to replace Nathan Astle at Perth, Vincent has proved a revelation for the one-day side, making 66 in his comeback match against Australia, and adding more impetus last night as he crashed 76 from the top of the order.
The Auckland right-hander, whose secondary wicket-keeping skills should mean his World Cup place is close to secure, brought up his second consecutive ODI 50 off 72 balls, punctuating his total with some hard running between the wickets, and five booming fours.
While Taylor's World Cup place has never been questioned, the 22-year-old provided another compelling reminder of his strike power, displaying his curious mix of West Indian and McC while posting his second ODI half-century.
The great young hope seemed to break every rule in the book and get away with it, playing Monty Panesar against the spin, slogging Paul Collingwood across the line, and punctuating his 71 off 81 balls with some copybook on-drives.
Like Vincent, he had a stroke of luck on the way, this time surviving one of the great stumpings in international cricket - at the hands of Paul Nixon - when he was on 30 and New Zealand were 107 for two.
New Zealand raged to their second consecutive 300-plus total courtesy of another blitz from Jacob Oram, who struck his fifth ODI 50 off just 32 balls and ended on 54 not out, having smashed four sixes - and 21 of the 22 runs scored off the 49th over.
* Meanwhile, the New Zealanders have recalled Scott Styris for the remainder of the tri-series after the Auckland all-rounder satisfied the selectors of his fitness after back and calf complaints.
He is set to join the New Zealand side in Melbourne today, in time to be considered for the match against Australia on Sunday.
Batsman Hamish Marshall has been released from the squad.
NEW ZEALAND
L. Vincent c Dalrymple b Plunkett 76
S. Fleming lbw b Plunkett 15
P. Fulton c Nixon b Plunkett 15
R. Taylor c Panesar b Collingwood 71
C. McMillan st Nixon b Panesar 11
J. Oram not out 54
B. McCullum c Strauss b Panesar 19
J. Franklin c Plunkett b Tremlett 9
D. Vettori not out 11
Extras (12lb, 22w, 3nb) 37
-- Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 318
Fall: 1/32, 2/53, 3/190, 4/213, 5/219, 6/246, 7/268.
Bowling: Plunkett 9-0-54-3 (7w), Tremlett 10-0-72-1 (3nb, 5w), Flintoff 10-0-66-0 (2w), Panesar 10-2-35-2 (1w), Dalrymple 5-0-43-0 (6w), Collingwood 6-0-36-1 (1w).
ENGLAND
E. Joyce run out (Vincent) 66
M. Loye c Fleming b Franklin 15
I. Bell c Fleming b Patel 31
A. Strauss st McCullum b Vettori 12
P. Collingwood c Fleming b McMillan 17
A. Flintoff b Vettori 13
J. Dalrymple c Franklin b McMillan 14
P. Nixon c Oram b Bond 49
L. Plunkett not out 25
Extras (1b, 2lb,8w, 7nb) 18
-- Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 260
Fall: 1/27, 2/99, 3/123, 4/136, 5/156, 6/162, 7/184, 8/260.
Bowling: Franklin 8-1-45-1 (4nb), Bond 10-0-58-1 (1nb, 1w), Oram 5-0-23-0, Patel 10-0-53-1 (1nb, 1w), Vettori 10-0-40-2 (1w), McMillan 7-1-38-2.
