The Cobras’ three-wicket victory earned them the right to play the table-topping Lions in Friday’s final at the Wanderers

The Report by Firdose Moonda09-Dec-2012
Scorecard Justin Ontong made an unbeaten 82 to help the Cobras reach the Momentum Cup final•Getty Images

Dale Steyn’s five-wicket haul for the Cobras helped offset AB de Villiers’ century for the Titans as national heavyweights played starring roles in the one-day cup playoff. The Cobras’ three-wicket victory earned them the right to play the table-topping Lions in Friday’s final at the Wanderers.They had their bowlers to thank for restricting the Titans to a below-par score on a slow Newlands pitch and Justin Ontong and Yaseen Vallie’s century stand for anchoring the chase. Despite, eventful dismissals – like Dane Vilas’ for obstructing the field – the Cobras won with 21 balls to spare.Steyn was not even due to play this match after he signed a one-game deal with the Brisbane Heat for Australia’s Big Bash League. CSA withdrew his NOC at the last minute and even though Steyn said he was disappointed not to be able to participate in the BBL, he did not show it. Instead, he struck telling blows for the Cobras against his former franchise, with two wickets in his first spell and three in one over in his last.The Titans were without their BBL-contracted player, Faf du Plessis, who returned from Australia on Saturday but was left out of the XI. They did have Morne Morkel at their disposal, but his efforts with the ball were not enough, despite an early breakthrough.After Eden Links caught Andrew Puttick spectacularly at short midwicket off Roelof van der Merwe, Morkel had Stiaan van Zyl caught at third man. Richard Levi got a top-edge a heave over long-off to leave the Cobras 72 for 3 in the 14th over.Vilas should have been out caught off the glove when he was on 23 but stood his ground and the umpire did not raise the finger. In the next over, Vilas danced out of his crease and drove the ball back to David Wiese. Before Vilas had made his ground, Wiese threw the ball back and Vilas got into position to block it with his bat.The Titans appealed for obstruction and, after a lengthy delay, Vilas was given out. Graeme Smith, the national captain who plays for the Cobras but missed the match through injury, called the dismissal a “disgraceful decision setting the wrong precedent,” on Twitter.Ontong and Vallie ensured Vilas’ departure did not affect the Cobras too badly. They played aggressively and targeted relative newcomer Tumi Masekela. Vallie became van der Merwe’s third victim and Robin Peterson his fourth but Ontong batted to the end, turning it on against Henry Davids* when he hit the medium-pacer for back-to-back sixes over square leg. But, it was Rory Kleinveldt who blasted the winning runs in boundaries off Wiese, who he hit for two fours and a six.Earlier, Steyn found swing on a warm Cape Town day and dismissed the Titans openers cheaply. When de Villiers walked in, his side was in trouble on 18 for 2 in the fifth over. He joined fellow international Jacques Rudolph and the two did a good repair job to add 49 runs for the third-wicket before Rudolph was run-out.The Titans then had another wobble. When Martin van Jaarsveld was caught behind off Rory Kleinveldt they were 85 for 4 but with de Villiers still there to build the second recovery. De Villiers and Farhaan Behardien rotated the strike well, with de Villiers finding boundaries off Johann Louw.Their 120-run fifth wicket stand gave the Titans a launch pad but the rocket did not take off. De Villiers was run out by a direct hit from Ontong at point and the Titans stalled. Steyn was brought back in the 47th over and pegged them back further.He had Wiese caught behind off the first ball and Behardien deceived by a change of pace off the fourth. But his marquee wicket was bowling his South Africa team-mate Morkel, who did not get forward to a delivery that uprooted off stump.With their lower-order in tatters, the Titans stuttered to 241 for 9. It was a score that did not look enough and in the end, proved not to be.*11.58 GMT, December 11, 2012: Corrected bowler from Eden Links to Henry Davids

Brad Hodge became the first batsman in Twenty20 cricket to reach 5,000 runs during Barisal Burners’ BPL match against Chittagong Kings in Khulna

Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2013Brad Hodge became the first batsman in
Twenty20 cricket to reach 5,000 runs when on 25 during Barisal Burners’ BPL match against Chittagong Kings in Khulna. Though he reached the milestone on a day when his side lost by 21 runs, it pleased Hodge as it was a testament of his class in this format.”I am just very happy,” Hodge told ESPNcricinfo. “I have made 10,000 plus
runs in Sheffield Shield and 5,000 in T20s, means that I have performed
well over the course of my lifetime.”Hodge achieved the milestone with a cover drive off West Indies allrounder Kevon Cooper, but stayed away from a celebration even though he was made aware of the impending record by one of the commentators.”I got told by Russell Arnold that I needed 25, but I didn’t think about it at the time,” he said.Hodge has played 171 T20 games (including eight internationals) over the past decade after making his debut on June 16, 2003, playing for Leicestershire against Yorkshire in the first-ever tournament of this format. He made 97 in that game.Overall, he averages 36.29 with an impressive strike-rate of 129.13, and has scored 34 fifties and two centuries. The Barisal Burners is Hodge’s 14th Twenty20 team in all levels including Australia and Australia A. He has played for three IPL teams while he has also turned up for Auckland, Basnahira Cricket Dundee, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Northern Districts, and his home side Victoria.His first century came against New South Wales in the 2005-06 final
when he hit 106 off just 54 balls and his
second century came against Nottinghamshire three years ago.David Hussey is a close second behind Hodge with 4,821 runs while there are three others – Chris Gayle, Brendan McCullum and Owais Shah – who have scored more than 4,000 runs in T20s.

A round-up of the Plunket Shield match played between February 7 and 10

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2013
ScorecardAfter four days of seesawing fortunes, it all came down to the last half an hour. Wellington’s Harry Boam and Ili Tugaga survived the last six overs of the day in an unbeaten eighth-wicket stand to frustrate Auckland and hold on to a draw at Basin Reserve. Wellington were given a target of 266 but with less than two sessions to bat, a win was a distant option and a draw looked most likely. But two wickets off consecutive balls by Chris Martin in the second over brought the game to life.Opener Josh Brodie scored a quick 86 to take Wellington beyond 100, but quick wickets in the middle order brought Auckland close to a win. It wasn’t to be as Boam played out 58 balls and Tugaga blocked out 11 to help Wellington to cling on.Auckland were put into bat and ended the first day on 319 for 5, with Anaru Kitchen and Colin de Grandhomme scoring big half-centuries, but Mark Gillespie brought Wellington back into the game on the second morning as Auckland lost last five wicket for 24 runs.Wellington lost their top four for 152, but Luke Ronchi scored 135 and helped the team to take an 80-run lead. Auckland didn’t have a good start to their second innings – they lost opener Michael Guptill-Bunce off the first ball – but they recovered as Gareth Hopkins scored a century and Michael Barry added 77. Auckland were bowled out on the fourth day for 345, with Mark Gillespie taking the second five-for in the match.
ScorecardAn unbeaten 75 by wicketkeeper BJ Watling and an eight-wicket match haul by the seamer Brent Arnel helped Northern Districts beat Canterbury by six wickets at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.Chasing 213 for victory, the Northern Districts batsmen achieved the target with more than a day to spare. An unbeaten 93-run partnership between Watling and James Marshall was the cornerstone of the chase, with important contributions from opener Joseph Yovich and middle-order batsman Brad Wilson.The bowlers dominated the first two days. On the opening day, Canterbury were dismissed for 172 after choosing to bat first. Arnel was the most effective bowler for Northern Districts, taking 5 for 55 in 18 overs. Opener Peter Fulton was the only batsman to offer some resistance, scoring a doughty 52 before he was bowled by Arnel.In reply, Northern Districts could only muster 108 as medium-pacers Shanan Stewart and Matt McEwan ran through the batting line-up to give Canterbury a 64-run lead. McEwan returned with a miserly five wickets for 20 runs in 12.4 overs. Canterbury didn’t improve on their performance in the second innings – only three batsmen scored in double figures as Arnel, along with medium-pacers Graeme Aldridge, Anurag Verma and Daryl Mitchell struck at regular intervals to dismiss Canterbury for 149.

Duncan Fletcher has been handed a one-year extension to his term as India coach

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2013Duncan Fletcher has been handed a one-year extension as India coach. He had taken over after India’s World Cup win in April 2011, signing a two-year contract. Trevor Penney, who joined as the fielding coach in May 2011, also gets a new one-year deal.The decision to keep Fletcher in charge was taken at the BCCI’s working committee meeting in Mumbai. India’s engagements over the next year including a challenging tour of current No. 1 South Africa, a tour of New Zealand, the Champions Trophy in England and the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.”The board has decided to extend his contract,” BCCI president N Srinivasan told reporters after the meeting. “But we have to discuss the terms. I can’t tell you the deliberations of the board. All I can tell you is what is the decision. We have decided to extend it.”Fletcher’s extension had a lot to do with continuity during the team’s re-building phase, a board insider said: “He knows all the youngsters, including the fringe players, very well by now, so it was important to keep the same bond going for a developing side. The fact that virtually every youngster respects him a lot also played a part.”It hasn’t been a smooth ride with India for Fletcher. When he was appointed India were at the top of the Test rankings, but they quickly slid down the charts after comprehensive defeats on tours of England and Australia. There were home victories against relatively lightweight opposition in West Indies and New Zealand, but the pressure increased in late 2012 after England won their first series in India since 1984-85.India have fared better in the one-day format, winning five bilateral series under Fletcher and are currently ranked No. 1. However, they recently lost a high-profile ODI series against Pakistan at home.

First year county cricketers are to receive advice on safe drinking, anti-doping and anti-corruption when they attend the PCA’s third annual Rookie Camp

George Dobell25-Feb-2013First year county cricketers are to receive advice on safe drinking, anti-doping and anti-corruption when they attend the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s third annual Rookie Camp at Edgbaston on February 28.The camp, to be attended by 24 young players in their first year as contracted county cricketers, will consist of introductions to the PCA (the players’ union) and several workshops including negotiation skills, safe driving, safe drinking, the new world of social media, anti-doping, anti-corruption, health and well-being as well as discipline rules and regulations. It will also contain a ‘past player’ session, where the youngsters will be given the chance to question former players about the potential dangers of a life in sport.”The day is designed to introduce the rookies to as much as we can within a short time span,” Angus Porter, the PCA chief executive, explained. “It’s to equip them to deal with the most important issues of the modern game, both the many positives of being a professional cricketer, the pitfalls that lurk around the corners and the responsibility as roles models they have to uphold on behalf of the game, themselves, their counties and the ECB.”This year’s Rookie camp is supported by The Tom Maynard Trust (TMT). The trust, set up in memory of the former Glamorgan and Surrey batsman who died in an incident last June aged just 23, aims to help aspiring young sports people achieve their goals and aspirations. It has joined forces with the PCA to help support the overall Personal Development Programme, a joint initiative with ECB, which aims to help equip players for their life in and beyond professional sport. The inquest into Maynard’s death is to be held in London on February 26.The workshop on responsible drinking will be delivered by Diageo as part of their DrinkiQ programme. The players in the rookie camp will be the first to benefit from the interactive presentation, which will then be rolled out to each county squad over the next 12 months.

MS Dhoni has called the series win over Australia a ‘big satisfaction’ and that it wasn’t about getting revenge for the 0-4 defeat when India toured in 2011-12

Sharda Ugra24-Mar-2013At the start of the series MS Dhoni was under the hammer for being the first Indian captain in 28 years to lose a home series to England, that too after being blanked out on away series in England and Australia. After defeating Australia inside three days and completing a 4-0 sweep for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Dhoni chose to toss a few hammers towards the written press after India’s six-wicket victory, but said using the word revenge was all too “confusing.”Even after turning around the 0-4 defeat to Australia in 2011-12, ‘revenge’ was a word Dhoni had made it a point to avoid all series. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 0-4, 2-2, 2-0, 3-1… I don’t like words like revenge coming out of the series because in the very next question people talk about the spirit of the game. So revenge, spirit of the game – the vocabulary becomes too confusing.”His summary of the series was simpler, “It’s better to say that it was a good series for us. There are plenty of individuals who did really well, quite a few bowlers, quite a few batsmen… They got some exposure, they scored runs in difficult conditions.”The disadvantage of having lost the toss in all four Tests meant that India had to bat last in three of the four Tests, but had done enough with the ball in the third innings to keep the target down to reasonable numbers. The Delhi Test may have ended inside three days, but it was here that India had to chase their highest target of the series, 155 runs, on the most treacherous wicket of the four Tests.”The openers have performed really well. As I said, the conditions were quite difficult for the batsmen to score freely. Shikhar [Dhawan] batted really well in the last game, Vijay batted well over a period of time. So I feel they’ve done really well. [Cheteshwar] Pujara, I’m really impressed with Pujara. He got injured in the first innings yet he came out to open for us and score those big runs. I think overall I’m very happy with the performance of especially the newer players who’ve just got a chance to play in this series.”The defeat to England had led to a “tough time”, Dhoni said. “You learn a lot more when you’re going through a rough period compared to the good times when everything goes your way. I think individuals learnt a lot from the tough period and we were able to implement the learning in this particular series.”The key for India he said was the ability to build partnerships. “When we were batting, we said that what we want is partnerships, we don’t want individuals to score hundreds. We laid a lot of emphasis on partnerships. Ultimately, if you earn the kind of partnerships you are talking about, you’ll get individuals who will score centuries.” Six of the nine century partnerships made in the series belonged to Indian batsmen, along with M Vijay & Pujara’s 370 for the second wicket in Hyderabad and Vijay and Dhawan’s match-winning 289 in Mohali.Dhoni came out in support of coach Duncan Fletcher, saying he was “glad he is around” and that this had been the best India had performed during his tenure. “He has had a tough time… but I think he is someone who knows the game really well. His technical knowledge of batting is immense. He is there helping all the youngsters who have come into the team to groom them to do well in different conditions. Specially, I am very happy for him because he has only seen and spent tough periods with us, specially when it comes to days cricket.”The Man of the Series and top wicket-taker R Ashwin, Dhoni said, had been “facing a bit of pressure.” For Ashwin to come back “in the right frame of mind” was important. Once again he said, the criticism of Ashwin following the England had been on the similar lines about appraisals of his captaincy. “People talk a lot of different things… the same way if you have a lot of variations, when you are doing well, people talk about those variations but once you are not doing so well and not taking so many wickets, they say he is not consistent, he bowls a lot of variations.”It was important for Ashwin he said, “to back himself” but there had been no pressure on him from the side. “I think that he bowled really well. What was important is that he needs to have his own plans, his own strategies as well as going along with the team’s strategies. Being the lead bowler, he performed really well in this series. Whenever we needed an important wicket, he was always there. And if he didn’t take it, [Ravindra] Jadeja took it for us. So that really helps, if you have two or three bowlers who give us important breakthroughs at the right time.”He had said newcomer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled 64 overs across eight innings and took six wickets averaging 39.83, had given India important wickets, “especially in the last Test match (Mohali) if I am not wrong… The fact that we won with 2.3 overs to spare, a lot of credit goes to the bunch of bowlers for bowling quickly so that we could generate those extra overs. If we had bowled just 14-15 overs an hour, we wouldn’t have got those extra 5-10 overs. The credit goes to them.” Bhuvneshwar would be “very effective abroad, especially given that he swings the ball both ways. We will have to wait to see but he has shown especially in the ODIs that if the conditions are slightly helpful, he can really swing the ball.”When asked about his own place at No. 6 in the batting order, Dhoni said, “about No. 6 position, Jadeja has done really well with the ball and slowly he’s getting into that thing of scoring runs. He may take a little bit of time but it’s very important that we have a youngster like him who can bowl consistently and bat a bit. So that once we go abroad, or different conditions, we can use it and still have five bowlers in the bowling line-up.”About Ajinkya Rahane, who made his Test debut for India in Delhi, Dhoni said, “I don’t think he is being considered as an opener. He will bat middle-order.”During the series, Dhoni has been far more animated on the field, in terms of ticking off slow fielders or celebrating wickets. It has marked a change from his otherwise much-celebrated ‘cool’ unemotional response to victory and defeat. Dhoni said he had “had to change a bit” because of the arrival of younger, inexperienced players in the squad. “The bowling line-up is quite the same, but the batting line-up has changed a lot, almost completely. Which means that you have to tell the youngsters what needs to be done, what went wrong and all those things. You have to change a bit.”Experienced players in the side, he said, “more often than not they know what really went wrong. So you don’t have to be vocal at times. But what’s important with the new side is that you often have to talk to them, keep telling them what needs to be done, what are the faults. All those small things that really matter. When it comes to operating on the field nothing much has really changed.”He said that it was important to get his younger side, “into a system” with good habits. “Because the habits they get used to right now are what they’ll go ahead with. I may not be there in two, three, four years’ time. But all these cricketers, they will be around for eight to 10 years. So it’s important that they start off with good habits and continue with them, so when the newer generation comes under them, they also just go ahead with the good habits.”

Hamish Rutherford warmed-up for the Test series next week with an aggressive hundred against England Lions as the second-string bowlers failed to impress at Grace Road

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road09-May-2013
ScorecardHamish Rutherford’s innings was studded with off-side drives•Getty Images

Hamish Rutherford warmed-up for the Test series next week with an aggressive hundred against England Lions as the second-string bowlers failed to impress at Grace Road before rain wiped out half the overs.Although New Zealand won against Derbyshire, their top order did not cover themselves in glory against what was largely a reserve county attack. The line-up facing them here is a significant step up, and an important increase in intensity ahead of the Test match, although only Graham Onions produced the consistency required on a blustery day, which appeared to impact the bowlers’ rhythmsRutherford’s innings, coming after the visitors were inserted on a green pitch that offered less than appeared likely, contained the hallmarks of his debut series in March: a strong preference for the off side, an attacking mindset, but also the propensity to offer bowlers a chance with a lack of footwork when he drives.He knows the value of warm-up runs, having made 90 in Queenstown before his Test debut where he made 171, and with his only previous cricket in the British Isles coming during two seasons in Scotland, but he also knows this is not his most important innings.”It doesn’t really matter scoring them in the warm-up games it matters in the proper games,” he said. “For me, personally, it’s nice to spend some decent time at the crease in these sort of conditions.”During this innings, the ones he flashed at did not take the edge and the ones he struck regularly came out of the middle but he was handed on life on 85 when Michael Carberry could not hold a swirling chance at deep midwicket off Simon Kerrigan, who then felt the brunt of Rutherford’s bat.His 110-ball hundred included 15 boundaries and three sixes, all straight off Kerrigan, the third of which took him to his century the ball after a similar blow had just failed to be gathered inside the boundary at long-on by Onions. After trying keep himself inside the playing area, Onions turned to the people sat behind him for confirmation of whether it was six or out: it was the New Zealand dugout who were able to confirm.”It was a gameplan,” Rutherford said, “you see the ball tossed up it’s a tough asking for any bowler into that breeze we had today although I did pitching-wedge a couple.”Rutherford continued to latch on to Kerrigan, the Lancashire left-arm spinner who was bowling into the stiff breeze, which enabled the batsmen to hit with it as Rutherford struck his fourth six moments after passing three figures. It was similar to the treatment he dished out to Monty Panesar at stages during the series in New Zealand.Also very familiar from the previous series was his strength through the off side from cover to backward point, an area fed by the Lions bowlers who gave him too many wide deliveries to pick off. Twice he took three boundaries in an over, once off Chris Woakes then again from Toby Roland-Jones who struggled bowling into the strong breeze.”We found him quite tricky to bowl at, he manufactures width pretty well which he showed throughout his innings and he’s pretty aggressive,” Roland-Jones said. “We tried to straighten up on him and restrict his boundaries and I felt as the day wore on we got better with that.”The first wicket came in the seventh over when Peter Fulton played round a full delivery from Onions which would have taken out middle as his tricky start to the tour continued. When England’s attack did not find much movement in New Zealand Fulton was able to play to his favoured leg side with less risk, but the extra nip with the Duke ball on greener pitches makes it a likely mode of dismissal for him.Onions was given an eight-over spell with the new ball and pushed his length fuller than the other frontline quicks. He could have claimed Kane Williamson for 2 but Woakes spilled a rapid chance at gully. Williamson, however, did not build on his reprieve and pulled a short ball from Roland-Jones low to midwicket.Ross Taylor’s first innings of the tour began in slightly uncertain style. Barring the hundred he made in the one-day series against England he has struggled since returning after the captaincy fall-out. He was beaten a couple of times outside off, drove close to point although after the lunch break started to look a little more at ease until, like Fulton, playing round a full delivery to be lbw.That was a second wicket for Roland-Jones, who had changed ends to have the wind behind him and struck in his first over of a spell for the second time in the day, as he clawed back his figures from the earlier punishment.”It was pretty difficult to be honest, combining into that wind with going uphill and it was about trying to do a job,” Roland-Jones said. “There’s always a job to do coming up the hill, but as a tall bloke it’s much nicer to come down the hill.”Dean Brownlie, who eased debate over his Test place with 71 against Derbyshire, survived a strong appeal for caught behind against Chris Wright before rain forced the players off for an early tea. They did not have the chance to resume.

Just as England appeared to have wrestled control away through a stand of 123 between Joe Root and Jonathan Trott, New Zealand surged back late in the day by taking 4 for 12

The Report by Andrew McGlashan at Lord's18-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJoe Root’s innings guided England into a strong position but their fortunes swung late in the day•Getty Images

This match refuses to reveal a favourite. Just as England appeared to have wrestled control away through a stand of 123 between Joe Root and Jonathan Trott, New Zealand surged back late in the day by taking 4 for 12, led by Tim Southee, to leave the contest tantalisingly balanced with the home side leading by 205 in conditions offering assistance to all bowlers.Despite how the day ended, England’s advantage is not inconsiderable on this surface. New Zealand will almost certainly have to score more than their first innings 207 to secure victory. Lord’s pitches have, over recent years, got better for batting (or at least harder for wicket-taking) deeper into the match but this surface does not appear set to follow that trend and the ball continues to swing. Their was less movement, though, when the sun popped out so New Zealand will look skywards. Either side Root and Trott, 12 wickets fell for 100 on the third day.Root, having played outstandingly for his 71, was the first to fall during a collapse that began in the final hour, when he inside-edged Southee into the stumps playing a shot that was not as tight as the majority he had so correctly produced. Then Southee beat Jonny Bairstow with a full delivery that clipped the pads and Matt Prior’s difficult game continued when he completed a pair by pulling softly to square leg. It was the first pair at Lord’s by an England player picked, in a significant part, for their batting since Mark Ramprakash against West Indies in 1995.A compelling passage of play continued when Kane Williamson, finding considerable turn that will give Graeme Swann every chance of being a match-winner, ripped one through the gate to bowl Trott (who had earlier been dropped at slip off the same bowler on 49) and suddenly the ill Ian Bell, who had spent the majority of New Zealand’s innings off the field and the morning of the third day at the team hotel, had to emerge at No. 8 behind nightwatchman Steven Finn.Root’s innings was exceptional. England were wobbling on 36 for 2 – a lead of 61 – when he arrived, after Alastair Cook’s problems with Trent Boult continued by edging a drive to third slip (his fourth dismissal against him in the four Tests this year) and Nick Compton was beaten by an inswinger from Neil Wagner in the next over. The stand that followed was comfortably the highest of the match.Until Root dragged on the only moments of unease came with running between the wickets. A better throw from Brendon McCullum at cover would have found him short on 40; in the process of collecting the ball and trying to break the stumps, BJ Watling damaged his knee and needed to leave the field, which forced McCullum to take the gloves (although not the conventional keeping pads, instead using shinguards under his trousers).Twice on 54 Root came close to being run out again. Martin Guptill, on as sub and New Zealand’s best fielder, missed the stumps then Root had to dive for his ground after another poor call. Each time, however, he managed to refocus. Perhaps the occasionally frantic running was a result of England’s increased urgency. They certainly appeared more intent on not letting the bowlers settle and Root was central to this with numerous tip-and-runs.He was strong square of the wicket, both cutting and driving elegantly off the back foot with a hint of his mentor Michael Vaughan, as he brought up his second Test fifty off 78 balls – rapid in the context of this game, if not quite Ross Taylor pace. The swiftness of footwork stood out, too, especially when he latched on to short deliveries from Bruce Martin, who did not have the same stifling effect of the first innings. Trott, meanwhile, played as he so often does and provided a reassuring presence at the other end although Root does not strike you as someone who needs calming in the middle.The two teams continue to prove closer than the rankings would suggest. New Zealand began the day in the slightly stronger position, but they were quickly knocked back and their last six wickets fell for 52 as James Anderson received the support that had been lacking the previous day, with him and Finn sharing nine wickets.England made the ideal start by removing McCullum in the first full over. He could have taken the game by scruff of the neck in a session but got a thin outside edge as he drove at Stuart Broad who, after being too short yesterday, immediately gained reward by pitching the ball up. McCullum thought he may have clipped his pad, not the ball, and used the DRS but there was a clear mark on Hot Spot.With McCullum gone, England knew the risk of New Zealand racing away had diminished. Williamson, who took a painful blow in the box against the much-improved Broad and needed a few minutes to compose himself, moved to an excellent fifty from 158 balls – his back-foot play through off side continuing to stand out – before falling in the same manner to Root on Friday when he glanced down the leg side against Anderson who went on to complete his fourth five-wicket haul at Lord’s when he beat Martin with a beauty to take off stump.Finn, although remaining inconsistent, played his part in dispatching the lower order. He benefited from a disappointing lack of self-control from Southee who had clubbed three boundaries in three balls and could not resist hacking at a short delivery that was simply taken at cover. It was a waste. Finn also claimed the last two to end with somewhat flattering figures, although his strike-rate of 47.1 should not be overlooked. However, like England, there is still improvement needed.