KEY POINTS:
HOBART - New Zealand's reputation as world cricket's Good Samaritans received a further boost last night when they injected a little cheer and joy into the tour of the otherwise downtrodden English.
Having recently helped buoy a Sri Lankan side that traditionally struggled in Kiwi conditions, the New
Zealanders went beyond the call of duty at the Bellerive Oval while guiding England to their first win in Australia since the start of November.
Disbelieving English fans, who dominated the 6545-strong crowd, stood and applauded their beleaguered side after the threat of a winless tour was averted on the back of some calculated batsmanship from Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff.
Chasing a meagre 206 - following another inept batting effort from New Zealand - the English managed to scramble through to the total after Flintoff struck the winning runs off the penultimate ball with three wickets in hand.
Bell anchored the first half of the chase with a stubborn 45 off 72 balls, and Flintoff saw his side through with a typically rapid 72 not out off 75 balls, despite having a scare in the 47th over when he was caught off a no-ball.
As much as it was a triumph for England, it was yet another inadequate performance from New Zealand, who slumped to their fifth loss in their most recent seven one-day internationals.
But the most galling aspect of this defeat will be the fact that New Zealand managed to turn in one of their better efforts with the ball this season, particularly in regard to spin-twins Jeetan Patel and Daniel Vettori.
The pair recovered from less impressive spells against Australia to strangle the England run chase mid-innings, and position their side handily at the business end of the game.
Patel can look back on one of his best games in New Zealand colours after he took two for 34 off his 10 overs and confirmed his ability in the field with a direct-hit run-out of England batsman Ed Joyce.
Vettori possibly had the more difficult assignment, in that he had to bowl deep into the last 10 overs of the match, an effort that wasn't rewarded with any wickets, but conceded only 42 runs.
After being forced to play with caution in the second half of the innings, Brendon McCullum, having struck Jon Lewis for a six and a four in the opening over, perished to a miscued lofted drive in the sixth; a strokeless Stephen Fleming played on to the impressive James Anderson, and Ross Taylor skied an attempted hook off the same bowler.
The wickets continued to tumble as the fielding restrictions ran out, particularly after Nathan Astle dragged a ball from Paul Collingwood back on to his stumps at the 24-over mark.
When Astle departed and Peter Fulton followed him soon after for a pedestrian 27, New Zealand had no option but to try to preserve wickets.
Such was their predicament that, in the 20-40-over period, they could collect a total of just 65 runs.
TRI-SERIES
NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND
(Bellerive Oval, Hobart)
New Zealand
B. McCullum c Vaughan b Anderson 16
N. Astle b Collingwood 45
S. Fleming b Anderson 12
R. Taylor c Vaughan b Anderson 1
P. Fulton c Vaughan b Flintoff 27
C. McMillan c and b Collingwood 22
D. Vettori lbw b Panesar 11
J. Franklin c Collingwood b Flintoff 20
S. Bond not out 22
M. Gillespie b Anderson 10
Extras (9lb, 10w) 19
--Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 205
Fall: 1/26, 2/61, 3/67, 4/97, 5/127, 6/144, 7/146, 8/185, 9/205.
Bowling: J. Lewis 9-0-51-0 (1w), J. Anderson 10-0-42-4 (3w), A. Flintoff 10-1-37-2 (2w), M. Panesar 10-0-36-1 (4w), P. Collingwood 10-1-25-2, J. Dalrymple 1-0-5-0
England
A. Strauss lbw b Franklin 28
M. Vaughan c Taylor b Franklin 17
I. Bell lbw b Patel 45
E. Joyce run out 5
P. Collingwood c Taylor b Patel 10
A. Flintoff not out 72
P. Nixon run out 15
J. Dalrymple c Patel b Gillespie 1
J. Lewis not out 2
Extras (1lb, 8nb, 2w) 11
--Total (for 7 wkts, 49.5 overs) 206
Fall: 1/39, 2/62, 3/79, 4/98, 5/138, 6/198, 7/201.
Bowling: J. Franklin 9-1-34-2, S. Bond 8-0-29-0 (2w, 2nb), M. Gillespie 6-0-40-1 (5nb), N. Astle 2-0-4-0, J. Patel 10-1-34-2 (1nb), D. Vettori 10-0-42-0, C. McMillan 4.5-0-22-0.
Result:- England won by three wickets.