New Zealand beat England in 1st Test
New Zealand defeated England by 189 runs in the first Test at Hamilton. Chasing a victory target of 300 off 81 overs on the fifth and final day, England were bundled out for a paltry 110 thanks to some excellent bowling by the Kiwi pacers. Kyle Mills, who was named the Man of the Match, was the chief wrecker claiming 4 for 16. Mills was ably supported by Chris Martin who took 3 for 33. For England, Ian Bell was the only batsman who offered some resistance to finish unbeaten on 54.
Although New Zealand led by 122 runs in the first innings, they suffered a dramatic collapse in the second innings raising some hopes of a possible England victory. However, with some assistance from Stephen Fleming (66), Jamie How (39) and most importantly skipper Daniel Vettori (35) they were able to declare at 177 for 9. The man responsible for the collapse was England pacer Ryan Sidebottom who took 6 for 49 including a hat-trick.
Earlier, England scored 348 in their first innings in reply to New Zealand’s mammoth first innings score of 470. For England Paul Collingwood, skipper Michael Vaughn and debutant Tim Ambrose scored half centuries. The New Zealand innings was marked by the maiden Test century by Ross Taylor who made 120. Jamie How and Vettori also made valuable contributions scoring 92 and 88 respectively. Sidebottom took 10 wickets in the match.
With this victory, New Zealand now travel to Wellington for the second Test with a 1-0 lead.
