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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Even though they had their work cut out chasing a huge 472 Bengal batted withpurpose and determination, reaching 98 for 2 at stumps on the third day of the Ranji Trophy final. After Mumbai scored 294 in their second innings they left themselves with two days and a session to take ten Bengal wickets, but they found the going tough. Deep Dasguptaled the resistance as Bengal put their timid first innings effort firmly behind.On a pitch that began to turn appreciably, Mumbai looked for initialbreakthroughs from their star duo of Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, butneither could replicate the penetrative bowling of the first innings. Itwas only when Amol Muzumdar brought about the first change, bringingWilkin Mota into the attack, that the first breach was made. ArindamDas, who had seen off 44 balls for 10, chased a wide delivery and the edgeflew thick and fast to Wasim Jaffer in the slips cordon. Jaffer reactedsharply, snapping up the difficult offering and Bengal were 39 for 1.Then Dasgupta and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala continued the resistance, seeingoff Mota and Agarkar’s second spell. Dasgupta was in especially god touch,picking boundaries off Agarkar with ease. Once again it was achange in the bowling that brought rewards, as Ramesh Powar floated one into Jhunjhunwala and won the appeal for lbw. Replays suggested thatthere might have been a bit of bat involved, but the umpire ruled in thefavour of the bowler, leaving Bengal at 65 for 2.From there on, though, there was no success for Mumbai as Dasgupta, whobatted almost three hours for his 43, and Manoj Tiwary, took Bengal to 98for 2 at stumps. The target of 472 is miles away, with 374 still needed,but the fight Bengal showed augurs well. With two days to go in the game,Powar could well play a big role, being the lone spinner in the attack.

When it was Bengal’s turn to bowl, earlier in the day, it was onceagain Ranadeb Bose who did the job, picking up 5 for 71 as he took hisseason’s tally to 57 wickets. A decent Sunday crowd – probably the best ofthe game – gathered at the Wankhede Stadium when the day began, inanticipation of Tendulkar’s arrival at the crease. They did not have towait all that long, for Jaffer popped a return catch to Ranadeb Boseearly in the day. Jaffer had made 53.A huge roar greeted Tendulkar as he walked out to the middle, but he wasdefinitely not at his best. In the first innings he had stamped hisauthority on the game in dramatic fashion, but in the second dig he wasdecidedly less assured. More than once he was surprised by a bit of extrapace or bounce and took blows on the body, most noticeably when he waslate on a pull shot against Ashok Dinda and was struck flush on thehelmet. Saurav Sarkar even managed to draw out an error when Tendulkar hitone uppishly back at the bowler, but Sarkar juggled the offering and couldnot latch on to it.Still, interspersed between some less than perfect shots, were the gems.The whip through the on side consistently beat the field, and back-footpunches through cover sped away with ease. In the end, it was a change inthe bowling that brought relief for Bengal. Dinda, who had bowled a longspell, gave way to Sourashish Lahiri, and Tendulkar took a bit of achance, attempting to hit a short ball wide of the man at cover, but onlymanaged to find Tiwary. It wasn’t the best ball of the day, but Lahiri hadTendulkar’s wicket for the second time in the game, this time for only 43runs.Muzumdar and Abhishek Nair ensured that there was no further damage, andtook Mumbai to lunch on 220 for 5. The post-lunch session proved to bemore entertaining than the first, with Nair batting more freely as thelead burgeoned past 400. He struck five boundaries and a six in his 34,while Muzumdar was more conventional, getting to 37. But the man to watchwas Ranadeb Bose, who bowled with impressive stamina and purpose even with histeam’s chances fast fading as Mumbai ended on 294. Bengal have begun well but it will be uphill all along as they battle a mammoth total.

Man of the dayFew cricketers have deserved a day in the sun quite like Ryan Sidebottom. Dismissed for so long as a one-cap wonder after his solitary appearance at Lord’s in 2001, he never got a sniff of a recall in the Duncan Fletcher days, despite taking 50 wickets a season on a regular basis for Nottinghamshire. He was nothing more than a trundler, so the reasoning went, but he’s trundled into the record-books in this game. With his father, Arnie, watching from the stands, he picked up England’s 11th hat-trick in Test history, and the first since his new-ball partner, Matthew Hoggard, in Barbados four years ago.Dismissal of the dayThe hat-trick was special, but there was another wicket that fell in the intervening over that arguably made even more of a difference. Brendon McCullum had emerged to a rousing reception, two places higher than his customary No. 7 position. The intention was clear – New Zealand wanted quick runs to set up a challenging declaration – but that wasn’t quite how it mapped out. McCullum blocked his first ball from Monty Panesar, then mowed his second, high and hard over deep midwicket. But he didn’t connect as sweetly as intended, and Andrew Strauss made good ground to complete another excellent catch. The wobble was now fully on.Catch of the day No. 1It doesn’t take much for the vultures to start circling around Hoggard’s career. One off-colour game and the talons have quickly been extended, but at the age of 31, he demonstrated his enduring athleticism with an outstanding pluck at deep midwicket. Jamie How connected sweetly, as he has done all summer, but Hoggard judged the flight and his run to perfection. He galloped 20 metres, leapt at the last possible moment, and got both hands to the offering with both feet off the ground. It was an outstanding moment, reminiscent of Darren Gough’s outfield extravagances, and it gave England just a sniff of salvation.Catch of the day No. 2What is the matter with Alastair Cook? It seems only last week that England had to hide him in the field. Every catch that came his way was juggled at least three times, and even strokes along the ground were an invitation for error. But now he’s leaping like a spawning carp every time the ball comes close, and Ryan Sidebottom would not be celebrating his maiden Test hat-trick without his incredible efforts at gully. If his first was good then his second was spectacular, a full lift-off to his left to pouch a fizzing edge from Mathew Sinclair. It was his fifth of the match, and every one has been a collector’s item.Shot of the dayUntil their innings started to go pear-shaped, New Zealand’s destiny was in the hands of their former captain, Stephen Fleming, who struck the ball as sweetly as ever during his 88-ball 66. Some of his driving was as languid and elegant as David Gower’s, with whom he shares a birthday, but it was his pick-up for six off Steve Harmison that really took the breath away. It was short and misdirected, but helped on its way over fine leg with dismissive insouciance. He’s got four more innings before he calls time on his career, but on this evidence, he could endure for several seasons yet.Unexpected acceleration of the dayThe pace of New Zealand’s innings and the drama of their collapse made the grind and shuffle of England’s effort seem like a long-distant memory. But their 11-hour, 867-dot-ball stodgefest really did happen. And Paul Collingwood really did score from just 29 of the 182 balls he faced in a four-hour 66. And so it took everyone by surprise when, in the 157th over of the innings, he galloped down the track to Daniel Vettori and deposited him coolly over long-off for six. Like Kevin Pietersen on the third day, it was a lone statement of aggression.

In their first two trips to the World T20 Qualifier, Papua New Guinea experienced more than their fair share of heartache.In 2012, it was the Americas representatives who tormented them. Canada held off a late charge from Geraint Jones and Mahuru Dai in defense of 167 to win by six runs. Five days later against Bermuda, captain Rarua Dikana had the ball in his hand tasked with protecting 15 runs off the final over with Bermuda five down but he gave up three straight sixes to Janeiro Tucker. It meant PNG finished in fourth place in Group A, one spot out of the playoff positions.In 2013, PNG made it to the playoffs and defeated Namibia in their first knockout game to come within one more win of a berth at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. In their way stood Hong Kong, a team they had defeated in the previous year’s qualifier by six wickets chasing down a total of 131 with a ball to spare. Hong Kong was pinned down in the rematch at 19 for 4 and only managed 139, but with a ticket to Bangladesh in their grasp, PNG stumbled to 108.The memories of those heartaches are now serving as fuel for inspiration at the qualifier for the pacific island nation. PNG captain Jack Vare says that this time around he’s hoping the team’s fortunes will change to get them over the hump and into next year’s World Twenty20 in India.”We have missed out in the last two tournaments in Dubai,” Vare told ESPNcricinfo ahead of PNG’s first match of the tournament on Sunday against Jersey. “Everyone is growing arms and legs. There’s a lot of experience in this time. Third time lucky I guess but everyone is confident that we will do well in this competition.”PNG’s build-up to this tournament included a magnificent four-day win over the Netherlands on their Intercontinental Cup debut, with Assad Vala and Dai spearheading the pursuit of a fourth innings target of 305. Though they lost the subsequent WCL Championship fixtures against the Dutch, PNG eased into T20 mode with four games against a pair of County second XIs. In one match, PNG racked up 268 for 3 versus Gloucestershire’s 2nds, a reminder of their potent top order featuring Lega Siaka and Tony Ura.”I think the biggest challenge we go through is from playing longer forms to shorter formats,” Vare said. “Most people know we play a lot of shorter formats but we are trying our best to develop all forms of the game. Playing in our first four-day game and to win that was a big experience for us and a special day.”PNG leaves no stone unturned in preparation as Coach Dipak Patel observes sliding practice during training at Bready CC•Peter Della Penna

PNG’s players have also accumulated experience playing in the Australian Country Cricket Championships as well as the South Australia Premier League. Getting access to better facilities and opponents within the Australasia region has helped lift up their skills and their confidence levels.”Playing in the competition in the South Australian Premier League gives us more experience and more exposed to the outside cricket world what’s happening,” Vare said. “Everyone has been doing well. We’ve been on the road for 18 months in preparation for this tournament. I’m more confident. I’ve got a good side, more mature side coming into this tournament.”PNG is the final team to play their first match of the tournament and on tap for them on Sunday at Bready is Jersey. Coach Dipak Patel and other members of the PNG squad were in attendance to see Jersey’s triumph by nine-wickets over Hong Kong on Saturday, a fresh reminder not to underestimate any opposition. Vare says the team is well-prepared and not about to be caught off guard whoever stands in front of them.”There’s no doubt teams will come and compete hard but we’ll focus on the job at hand,” Vare said. “We won’t look ahead too much. We’ll take every game as it comes and concentrate on our roles as individuals and as a group. That’s our major important thing to do playing top teams. We won’t take any team lightly.”

Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, says he was surprised at England’s approach towards the match, adding that the tourists need to display more enterprise to win a Test in Sri Lanka. England, trailing Sri Lanka by 197 runs after the first innings, finished on 250 for3 in their second before rain washed out the final session of the match.”We were definitely pushing for a victory to seal the series. Wewere disappointed [with] the way England batted in the first innings on this pitch, scoring 351 runs in five sessions,” Jayawardene said.”It’s quite difficult to win a Test match when you bat like that. If England wantto win a Test, they probably need to bat quicker than that and put pressure onthe opposition.”We managed to bowl them out in the first innings which was a great effort onthis pitch. The second innings we knew the pitch was going to be very slow and theonly way we could have had any chance of picking up early wickets was with the newball.”Two or three quick wickets and Murali could have come into play, but the openersbatted really well. Once the ball got soft it was very difficult. We tried a fewoptions but I knew the pitch was too slow to get anything out of it. We needed tobe patient and play a waiting game but the rain came and there was no chance atall.”Jayawardene seemed to rue the fact that Sri Lanka were unable to press for more runs on the fourth morning following his dismissal. “If I was around with Prasanna [Jayawardene] we probably could have added a few more runs. For me, the question was whether to give them a 125 or 150-run lead. The only way I could have put pressure on them would be a bigger total. Even had they batted for two sessions they still wouldn’t have been able to get to our lead and they would have been under pressure. “In the absence of a second spinner, Jayawardene had to avail the services of Chamara Silva, a part-time legspinner, who responded with the wicket of Alastair Cook.”Chamara did the job of a second spinner for the first time. If we had another guy like Sanath [Jayasuriya] who could bowl 15 overs, especially in the second innings, it would have been handy. The combination we’ve got now doesn’t allow that option. When we go to Galle [for the third Test] we will look at the pitch and see whether we can help Murali around a bit more.”If we can ask Chamara to bowl more at practice and develop him into a guy who canprobably bowl 10 to15 overs in a Test match, that would be handy. We need a partner for Murali in the long run, not just this series especially on home conditions,” he said.Jayawardene also said that he missed the services of Farveez Maharoof, the allrounder, who was ruled out with an ankle injury. “If he was around, we could have gone with a 6-5combination because he can bat and bowl.”The teams head to Galle for the third and final Test, starting on December 18.

A light-hearted cheer went up near the Prindville Stand around six in the evening. Umpire Billy Bowden turned down a loud appeal from Mitchell Johnson, when he yorked Rahul Dravid, and a small section of the crowd responded with, “We want Bucknor, we want Bucknor”. It was one of the few noises made on a rather quiet day, one where a genteel wave swept across the WACA.It’s been a tumultuous week but the events of the first day – for most of it at least – were disconcertingly slow. The anti-climax surrounding the pitch didn’t help but you would still expect some noise, at least from the grass banks. Things picked up towards the evening, especially with Australia fighting back with wickets, and a few spectators were even warned. One cheekily held a banner that read, “No more monkey abuses” and was promptly told to pack it in. Another tried his best to stir up the crowd but was led out of the ground when he began to swear.A crowd of about 16,000 watched the first day’s play. It’s worthwhile pointing out what had to say about the very first Test in Perth, back in December 1970. “It was perfectly organised, and nearly 85,000 spectators saw it. That number was nearly twice that at Brisbane, and gate receipts in the region of £50,000 were almost three times as large.” Thirty seven years since and the atmosphere seems to have diminished.The Australian cricketers behaved like schoolboys sitting on the front bench. The ferociously quick Shaun Tait actually apologised to Sachin Tendulkar after appealing for a caught-behind decision. No-one else appealed since it had rapped his forearm. There was soon another appeal against Tendulkar, a really close shout from Andrew Symonds, but the reactions were a sight for the times: Symonds cursed himself, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke turned around to chat about it, and Ricky Ponting let out a gentle apologetic kick.And if the atmosphere got heated at all, there was the quiz show to divert the attention. Through the day, every ten minutes or so, a question would be asked over the public announcement system, urging spectators to send in their responses. Just as Brett Lee seemed to be setting up Tendulkar in a fine spell, we were asked, ‘Which Australian fielder has the most number of catches?’ Talk of enjoying a good contest.It was a fine day for cricket: hot, bright and pleasantly windy. Justin Langer was out there first thing in the morning and subconsciously started to step towards the middle of the pitch, tempted to indulge in some shadow practice. Soon he realised he was in his leather boots, not spikes, and didn’t need to practice at all. “The umpire looked up at me in a funny way and I thought, ‘This is not your stage any more’. I then just watched Ricky Ponting go through the motions.”Half an hour before the toss Langer was in the thick of the action, presenting Chris Rogers with his baggy green cap. It’s been more than a year since he retired but Australia’s next crop of openers isn’t allowing us to forget his style: Phil Jaques turned into a like-for-like replacement and Rogers, in Adam Gilchrist’s words, isn’t attractive but effective.Kerry O’Keeffe, the former Australian legspinner who regaled the press and corporate guests during lunch, felt Rogers had shown how colour-blindness wasn’t an impediment to Test cricket. He also reminded everyone of how John Rogers, Chris’ dad, played a few games for New South Wales. “There’s Gilchrist from New South Wales and now Rogers,” he said with the distinctive laugh that’s thrilled radio audiences across the country. Wonder what O’Keefe thought of Clarke’s latest crew cut, in light of his recent comments about NSW players being given a bottle of hydrogen peroxide along with their state caps.

Nottinghamshire’s best day of the season has left them in striking distance of a first Championship win at Trent Bridge since May 1999. After taking their own first innings score to 371 and picking up one Glamorgan wicket during the morning session, they took nine more wickets in the period between lunch and tea to bowl out their visitors for just 187.Following on, 184 behind, Glamorgan fared little better at the second time of asking. Without a run on the board Robert Croft should have gone. A casual flick off his legs flew straight to Paul Johnson at square leg. Inexplicably the `dolly’ went down – to rub salt in the wounds with Johnson holding his head in his hands and the ball at his feed the batsmen ran a cheeky single.The unlucky bowler Paul Franks soon had cause for double celebration dismissing Croft and Powell in the same over. The off spinner tried to cut a rising delivery and for the second time in three hours was taken by Hewison in the gully.Michael Powell clipped his first ball for four and then lost his off stump to the next. Franks jubilation was understandable if not, perhaps, a little excessive.Things got even better for the England one-day international when he picked up the prize scalp of Matthew Maynard in his next over – again it was the off stump that took the pounding and again it preceded wild scenes of delight.At 20-3 the departure of Glamorgan’s captain would surely have dented the spirit of the dressing room but their day of suffering ended shorly afterwards when bad light halted the day’s play, with still 28 overs remaining.Franks had taken all three wickets, at a personal cost of just eight runs. In Glamorgan’s first innings the pick of the Notts bowlers was AJ Harris, who bagged 5-69 to take his haul for the season to 40.With still two full days remaining Notts could yet revive their fading hopes of promotion from division two.

Worcestershire’s Twenty20 Cup fixture against Warwickshire at New Road has had to be cancelled after unseasonal rains caused the Severn and Teme rivers to break their banks and flood the county ground at New Road.”Around half of the ground is flooded at a depth of at least a couple of feet,” explained David Leatherdale, the commercial manager. “It is up to the engines of cars parked on the ground.” Games against Northamptonshire on Friday and Gloucestershire on Sunday are also in doubt.Although county officials immediately sought an alternative venue to stage the game, the Twenty20 regulations as they stand require all matches to be played within the county boundaries. Worcestershire had hoped to play at either Kidderminster, Ombersley or Barnt Green, but were forced to admit defeat.”Regrettably no other venue within the county with the facilities to stage the Twenty20 match could be identified in spite of the very best efforts of the home club,” said an ECB statement. “ECB has indicated that it wishes to consider changes to regulations which could provide increased options for the 2008 season but recognises that the weather conditions experienced in June have been exceptional.While the ground, which is on a flood plain, is often submerged in the winter, it is rare that it suffers during the season. In June 1931 Worcestershire had to move their match against Kent to Stourbridge because New Road was underwater. On that occasion the local fire brigade were called in to help mop up. In August of the same year heavy rain meant that a small lake formed in front of the ladies stand and the boundary had to be brought in by 25 yards midway a game against Warwickshire. It also flooded in August 1957.

Scorecard

Bengal’s opening pair made the most of winning the toss to pile the agony on Baroda at the Moti Bagh ground in Vadodara. Anustup Majumdar, in only his third first-class match, recorded his maiden hundred while the relatively experienced Arindam Das matched him in a fine 221-run stand. The duo made the most of Baroda’s greenhorn new-ball attack and struck 33 fours between them in a sensible partnership. Majumdar was run-out shortly after reaching his century but Das was undefeated at the end of the day.
Scorecard
Daniel Manohar cracked his eighth first-class hundred to give Hyderabad a solid start in Mohali but Punjab’s spinners fought back by grabbing five wickets between them. Having been inserted on a surface that usually assists the seamers first up, Hyderabad were propped up by a 128-run opening stand between Manohar and Ravi Teja. Hyderabad, though, somewhat lost their way from there. VVS Laxman fell for 38, an innings that included eight fours, and the middle order struggled against the left-arm spin of Ankur Kakkar and the offspin of Karan Goel. Both were economical, conceding less than three runs an over, and brought Punjab back into the contest towards the end of the day.
ScorecardRajasthan unravelled for the second time in as many games, collapsing for 105 against Maharashtra in Jaipur. Having been shot out for 85 against Delhi, Rajasthan’s batsmen continued the trend with only three managing double figures. Munaf Patel’s four-wicket burst rattled the top order before Harshad Khadiwale, the medium-pacer, and Sairaj Bahutule, the veteran legspinner, ran through the tail. Bahutule, who claimed three wickets in just 2.4 overs, reached an important milestone: he now has 550 wickets in first-class cricket. Khadiwale, a centurion in the first round, carried on his good form to allow Maharashtra to lead by 50 runs at the end of the day.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh rode on handy contributions from most batsmen but Andhra stayed in the hunt on a see-saw first day in Anantpur. Electing to field first, Andhra dismissed the UP openers early but a string of partnerships kept thwarting them through the day. Ravikant Shukla held the lower order together with a doughty 56 but neither Mohammad Kaif (34) nor Suresh Raina (13) could make much of an impact. P Vijay Kumar, the medium-pacer from Andhra, kept them in the match with an impressive four-wicket haul.
ScorecardMithun Manhas led a shaky Delhi batting effort, one which never found much momentum against an attack led by medium-pacer Sandeep Jobanputra. Saurashtra had a satisfying day on the field, considering that they chose to bowl first in an away game. Jobanputra, in his third first-class season, pocketed his fourth five-wicket haul and was well backed up by medium-pacer Kanaiya Vaghela (2 for 27). Entering at 47 for 2, Manhas produced a patient knock, consuming 130 balls for a gritty 62. Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia couldn’t convert their 30s into big ones and Delhi limped to 244 at the end of the day.
ScorecardRahul Dravid scored a century in the second successive game, pushing Karnataka to a dominant 270 for 4 against Himachal Pradesh in Bangalore. Dravid’s 121, an innings that included 14 fours and four sixes, formed the backbone of a solid Karnataka batting performance. He was backed up by KB Pawan and C Raghu, both of whom posted half-centuries on a batsman-dominated day.
Scorecard
Fifties from Dinesh Karthik and Rajhamany Srinivasan, the latter playing his third first-class match, rescued Tamil Nadu in Chennai but it was Mumbai’s bowlers who claimed most of the honours. Aavishkar Salvi, playing his first Ranji game of the season, set the tone with a couple of early wickets before Ramesh Powar, omitted from India’s Test squad against Pakistan, got stuck into the tail with a four-wicket haul. Karthik’s energetic half-century, with 12 fours and a six, was in contrast to Srinivasan’s stodgy effort, one that used up 229 minutes. Mumbai’s openers got through 11 overs without losing a wicket.

Taslim Arif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman, died in Karachi at the age of 53 after succumbing to a lung infection.Arif made his Test debut initially as a batsman, scoring 90 and 46 on debut against India in 1980. He went on to play five more Tests as a wicketkeeper though the most significant achievement of his career was his marathon 210 not out against Australia in Faisalabad, which at that point of time was the highest score by a wicketkeeper in Tests. His performance came on a flat pitch and prompted Dennis Lillee to make the famous remark about Faisabalad being a graveyard for bowlers.It was his misfortune, however, to be a Pakistan keeper during the time of Wasim Bari and by the end of 1980, he had played his last Test. Still, his career figures make for impressive reading: 501 runs from six Tests at 62.62. He also played two ODIs against West Indies before he signed for Kerry Packer’s World Series in Australia, where he played in one season.He continued playing successfully for National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) retiring eventually in 1988. After his playing days, Arif remained involved in the game, working as a batting consultant for NBP and a selector for Karachi, his home city, where he was a regular face on the cricket circuit. He also ran an academy with former Test spinner Tauseef Ahmed and was a regular commentary voice for domestic and international matches for local radio and TV.Pakistan fans would have heard him last a few weeks back, commentating on a Pentangular trophy match between Sindh and NWFP for a local sports channel.

Match facts

Thursday, May 15 to Monday, May 19, 2008
Start time 11.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)

The Big Picture

It’s the start of a new English summer, but the resumption of a familiar and unexpectedly intriguing tussle. This is the 11th consecutive international fixture between England and New Zealand, and there will have been 19 in a row by the end of the one-day international series in June. Nevertheless, familiarity has not yet bred contempt, and both sides enter this Test with plenty to prove after the hits and misses of their previous three-Test encounter in March. England emerged triumphant on that occasion after losing embarrassingly in the first match at Hamilton, and start once again as favourites, but nothing suits the Kiwis better than being written off as no-hopers. And no venue inspires touring sides more effectively than Lord’s.

Test form guide

England – WWLDDL
New Zealand – LLWWWL

Watch out for …

Ryan Sidebottom The Man of the Series in New Zealand, where he took hat-tricks, career-bests and every plaudit available. He’s just been named as England’s Player of the Year for 2007, after picking up 53 wickets in 12 Tests, and will be looking to make 2008 even more special.Brendon McCullum Arguably the most explosive attacking batsman in the world today. He made 96 on his last visit to Lord’s in 2004, but has yet to make a century against senior Test opposition. Last month’s incredible unbeaten 158 in the IPL, however, showed just what he can do when the mood takes him.Aaron Redmond New Zealand’s top order was the weak link during the home series defeat, and the loss of Stephen Fleming has exacerbated the problem. Nevertheless, Redmond, who is set to make his debut, has a watertight technique and a burning desire to occupy the crease come what may. His six-and-a-half hour 146 against the England Lions demonstrated his abilities.

Team news

As expected, England named an unchanged eleven for the third match running, with Matthew Hoggard missing out. Andrew Flintoff might have been back in the fold had his side strain not postponed his comeback, but the coach, Peter Moores, is keen to reward the players who turned the team around in New Zealand.England 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Tim Ambrose (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Ryan Sidebottom, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.New Zealand, on the other hand, are expected to make sweeping changes, both personnel and positional. There are three changes in the top order from the Napier defeat, with Stephen Fleming retired, and Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair omitted. Redmond comes in for his debut, along with the Northern Districts rookie, Daniel Flynn, while James Marshall is recalled at No. 3. Oram returns in place of Grant Elliott, but with McCullum moving up to No. 5, he slips into the conventional allrounder’s slot of No. 7. Vettori plays despite requiring stitches in his spinning finger last week.New Zealand (probable) 1 Jamie How, 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 James Marshall, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum, 6 Daniel Flynn, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

New Zealand have won just eight of their 91 Tests against England, but four of those have come away from home including at Lord’s in 1999 en route to a memorable series win.Tim Southee, who made his debut at Napier in March, scored more runs in a single innings (77) than his probable new-ball partner, Chris Martin, has managed in 40 Tests (74 runs at 2.55).

Quotes

“I do expect to win, but we’re not going to underestimate them. They’re a good bowling unit and they scrap very hard.”
England’s coach, Peter Moores, talks up his side’s prospects
“They are just a steady side and on their day they can be a very good side.”
New Zealand’s Chris Martin hits back.