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MANCHESTER - On the scale of captaincy disappointments, this rated highest for Daniel Vettori as he surveyed the wreckage of New Zealand's six-wicket loss to England.
From being 85 for two in their second innings, an overall lead of 266, to a comprehensive defeat little more than 24
hours later was a bitter pill for the New Zealand skipper.
"Games that you should win hurt a lot more - we'll be hurting for a while," he said.
"When you turn up on the fourth day and you've got high expectations of winning and you see the game dragged away from you, it's a pretty disappointing feeling in our dressing room."
Opposing captain Michael Vaughan rated it among his finest moments as England take an unbeatable 1-0 series lead into the third test in Nottingham, starting on Thursday next week.
"It's certainly very close to being as good a win as we've had," Vaughan said.
It was all over for New Zealand in just two sessions on the fourth day as the biting Manchester wind howled at 75km/h and England made short work of their pursuit of 294.
The hosts beat the Old Trafford ground record for fourth innings run chases, 231 against the West Indies in 2004, and recorded their fifth highest successful chase of all time.
Opener Andrew Strauss was England's anchor with his 12th test century, 106 in 281 minutes, while Vaughan's 48 and Kevin Pietersen's 42 were vital supporting acts.
New Zealand arrived today with high hopes, England 76 for one needing another 218 and history on the tourists' side.
Vettori's left-arm spin was the key as he chased three consecutive five-wicket hauls against England, on the same volatile surface fellow left-armer Monty Panesar terrorised the New Zealand batsmen for test-best figures a day earlier when they collapsed for 114.
But Vettori and the hard-toiling Iain O'Brien couldn't break Strauss and Vaughan in the first hour and by lunch England were cruising at 171 for two with New Zealand's ground fielding also looking shoddy.
Vaughan's decision to use the heavy roller on the pitch before play was crucial, Vettori said, as the pitch gave the batsmen fewer terrors and only livened up after lunch.
Vettori went wicketless from 25 overs today as he changed ends and rotated his pacemen to effect the breakthrough. He ended with the un-Vettori like figures of one for 111 off 35 overs.
O'Brien gave New Zealand a sniff when he nicked out Strauss to a good low catch by Ross Taylor, then ran out Pietersen with a bullet throw from long leg to make it 248 for four.
With hopes rising, Vettori had a huge leg before wicket shout against a struggling Paul Collingwood turned down by Australian umpire Simon Taufel, then O'Brien dropped a simple return catch off Ian Bell to seal their fate.
"To be bowled out for 114, that hurts, but I think when we sat in the dressing room defending 294 we thought if we can get through their top three or four, there were guys who haven't had runs for a while and a tail that we were confident of getting out."
Vaughan, whose team made it five wins from their last six tests at Old Trafford, insisted his side never gave up hope against a young New Zealand batting lineup.
"I'm not saying New Zealand were complacent but you can get ahead of the game. When they were 86 for two, 260 in front, I've been in situations like that as a team and you can relax a little bit."
Panesar was named man of the match for his six for 37 which gave him 25 wickets from his last three tests here.
New Zealand now head to Northampton for a three-day tour match starting on Friday.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand
First innings 381
Second innings 114
England
First innings 202
Second innings (76-1 overnight)
A Strauss c Taylor b O'Brien 106
A Cook c Marshall b Vettori 28
M Vaughan c McCullum b Martin 48
K Pietersen run out 42
I Bell not out 21
P Collingwood not out 24
Extras (9b, 10lb, 6nb) 25
Total (for 4 wkts, 88 overs) 294
Fall: 60 (Cook), 150 (Vaughan), 235 (Strauss), 248 (Pietersen).
Bowling: C Martin 13-1-45-1 (2nb), K Mills 6-0-17-0 (2nb), D Vettori 35-7-111-1 (2nb), I O'Brien 20-2-62-1, J How 1-0-4-0, J Oram 13-1-36-0.
Result: England won by six wickets, lead three-match series 1-0.
- NZPA