NOTTINGHAM, England (AFP) — Ryan Sidebottom's devastating spell of four wickets for five runs in 19 balls propelled England to an innings and nine run third Test victory against New Zealand at Trent Bridge here on Sunday.
England's win, achieved before lunch on the fourth day, saw them take the three-match series 2-0.
Left-arm quick Sidebottom, who finished with figures of six for 77, routed the New Zealand lower order on his Nottinghamshire home ground.
But it was fellow fast bowler and man-of-the-match James Anderson, with a Test best seven for 43 in the first innings, who did the decisive damage that made New Zealand follow-on.
Only all-rounder Jacob Oram, with an unbeaten 39-ball fifty featuring two sixes and six fours offered much resistance Sunday.
"We knew it was going to swing here but you need to have the skills to make it happen," said England captain Michael Vaughan.
"They (Sidebottom and Anderson) will be the first to admit they got conditions to suit them but they had the skill. The pace has been very good this week and some of the deliveries New Zealand have had to face were exceptional."
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, his side's man of the series, had no complaints about the outcome of the match or the campaign as a whole.
"If we look back we were thoroughly outplayed from the start. Apart from two sessions of bowling we were second best," the left-arm spinner said.
"Our batting didn't really stand up to some very good bowling. But we have to recognise how well England played."
New Zealand resumed Sunday on 177 for five - still 64 runs shy of making England bat again - after suffering the double blow of losing Brendon McCullum (71) and Daniel Flynn (49) shortly before stumps on Saturday.
Test debutant Gareth Hopkins was seven not out and Oram eight not out.
Wicket-keeper Hopkins had added just five to his overnight score when he edged Sidebottom to England gloveman Tim Ambrose.
Oram, who made a hundred in the drawn first Test at Lord's, square cut Stuart Broad, a county colleague of Sidebottom's, and then pulled the fast bowler for successive fours.
And when the 21-year-old quick dropped short again, to expose the tall all-rounder's supposed weakness against the rising ball, Oram hooked him for the first six of the match.
At the other end though Vettori gave his wicket away when driving Sidebottom to Kevin Pietersen in the gully.
Tailenders Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien were both caught in the slips by Sidebottom before Anderson finished the match when last man Chris Martin was caught at second slip by Paul Collingwood.
New Zealand, as was the case during their six-wicket second Test defeat at Old Trafford, had enjoyed some early success in this match and reduced England to 86 for five after Vettori won the toss and fielded.
But a stand of 161 between Pietersen (115) and Ambrose (67) got England back into the match before tailenders Broad (64) and Anderson (28) both recorded their Test-best scores to bolster the hosts' total.
"At 86 for five in this game I never envisaged winning by an innings but credit to Kevin Pietersen and Tim Ambrose for their partnership and to Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson who bowled so well," Vaughan added.
The Black Caps, several of whose batsmen demonstrated a faulty technique against the swinging ball, were bowled out for 123 - 42 short of avoiding the follow-on.
However, one concern for England was the form of struggling middle-order batsmen Ian Bell and Collingwood and their collective failure, for the 12th successive Test, to reach the benchmark first innings score of 400.
But the likes of batsmen Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara will have to wait until the July 10 series opener against South Africa at Lord's to press their claims for a Test place.
And the selectors are likely to face another problem if star pace-bowling all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is fully fit following a side injury.
"We know we are a developing team with some way to go but we are looking forward to the South Africa leg of the summer," Vaughan said.
An inexperienced New Zealand side had played just four Tests in 10 months before losing 2-1 at home to England in a three-match series in March.
Their next Test assignment isn't until October when they are away to minnows Bangladesh.
But the World Cup semi-finalists remain an impressive one-day outfit.
They now meet England in a one-off Twenty20 clash at Old Trafford on June 13 before the teams play the first of five one-day internationals at the Riverside two days later.
SCOREBOARD
England 1st Innings 364 (K Pietersen 115, T Ambrose 67, S Broad 64; I O'Brien 4-74, K Mills 3-76)
New Zealand 1st Innings 123 (J Anderson 7-43)
New Zealand 2nd Innings (overnight: 177-5)
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-33, 3-58, 4-152, 5-169, 6-197, 7-205, 8-221, 9-225
Bowling:
Toss: New Zealand
Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIS) and Darrell Hair (AUS)
TV umpire: Peter Hartley (ENG)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
Result: England win by an innings and 9 runs
Series: England win three-match series 2-0
Previous Results
May 15-19, 1st Test, Lord's: Match drawn
May 23-36: 2nd Test, Old Trafford: England won by 6 wkts
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