Panesar takes six to spin England to victory against NZ

England spinner Monty Panesar claimed six wickets to wrap up the deciding third test against New Zealand just after lunch on the fifth day on Wednesday.

New Zealand, chasing an improbable 553 to win, were bowled out for 431 in their second innings to give England victory by 121 runs and a 2-1 triumph in the series, their first overseas success since South Africa in 2005.

Debutant Tim Southee top-scored with 77 not out, including nine sixes, and his half century, off 29 balls, was the fastest by a New Zealander in tests.

Panesar, who took three wickets to spark a familiar collapse of New Zealand's batting on the fourth day, finished with career- best figures of six for 126.

They were spoiled by Southee's barrage, however, with his three-over spell after lunch going for 31 runs.

Panesar did capture the valuable wickets of Ross Taylor (74) and Brendon McCullum (42) in the morning to realistically end New Zealand's chances of batting out the day.

POSITIVE START

Taylor (34) and McCullum (24) had resumed on 222 for five and they immediately set about the England bowlers.

Taylor was particularly brutal on Ryan Sidebottom, taking three boundaries off his first over of the day and again in the left-arm seamer's third to end his short spell with uncharacteristic figures of 3-0-31-0.

Taylor's third test half century came off 85 balls and included 10 boundaries.

He quickly moved to 74 and looked set for his second century of the series when he nicked a catch to Paul Collingwood off Panesar to end his 104-run partnership with McCullum.

The aggressive wicketkeeper was more circumspect but stroked seven boundaries before he was bowled by Panesar for 42 to leave New Zealand struggling at 281 for seven.

Jeetan Patel and Daniel Vettori added 48 runs before Stuart Broad produced a remarkable diving catch at backward square leg to dismiss Patel for 18 off Panesar.

Vettori was then caught behind by Tim Ambrose off James Anderson for 43 before Southee hoisted two sixes into the stands before the break.

He smashed seven more after lunch with two disappearing out of the ground and brought up his first test half century with his seventh six before the excitement ended when Chris Martin was bowled by Sidebottom for five.

New Zealand won the first test by 189 runs and England the second by 126 runs.

It was the third time New Zealand have lost a three-test series after winning the first match. They also lost a series 2-1 in South Africa in 1994-95 and in Sri Lanka in 1997-98.

Email this article to your friend -