Eng v NZ 3rd Test, day four commentary

ENGLAND BEAT NEW ZEALAND BY AN INNINGS AND NINE RUNS, AND WIN THE SERIES 2-0 Sidebottom grabs a stump and looks far happier than he did for most of yesterday. But it's Anderson who leads the England team off the field. Fitting that he claimed the last wicket to end with nine for the match and 19 for the series to lead the way from Sidebottom, who ended with 17 to go with the 24 he took in New Zealand. Oram entertained the big crowd, but he got no support as New Zealand folded meekly in little more than an hour. Oram gave us a glimpse of what to expect from the Twenty20 and one-day action that follows this series. Join us for that. Thinking about it, with a full house in and only an hour's play this morning, why not have an impromptu beer game now? The sun's out, spirits are high and it'd give Michael Vaughan a rare chance to show his Twenty20 credentials.

Over 13 Anderson 6-1-W 232ao - No prizes for guessing how Oram's going to play this. Never mind $5million Twenty20 nonsense - Test cricket can be just as crazy. Oram slaps the first ball of the over miles over long-on for six and swats the next ball to midwicket. He gets to a quite brilliant half-century (39 balls, 6x4s, 2x6s) but can't get back for a second run thanks to some brilliant work from Bell at deep midwicket. His clean pick up and throw gives Anderson four balls at Martin. WICKET! And it only takes one. A carbon copy of O'Brien's dismissal as he edges to Collingwood who moves to his left to cling on and take the catch. Job done in fine style this morning by England.

Over 12 Sidebottom W-0-4-0-W-0 221-9 WICKET! Five for Sidebottom, and England on the brink now. Good ball again from the Notts man, pushed across Mills who drives loosely and gives Andrew Strauss some catching practice. Iain O'Brien comes in, and h'ed be number 11 in pretty much any other team going around. But he gets off the mark with a boundary, slicing the ball through backward point as Sidebottom looks for another outside edge. WICKET! And this time he finds it. O'Brien looks to repeat the shot and gets a thicker edge than Mills managed, getting the ball to Paul Collingwood at second slip. Sidebottom has six wickets and is just one wicket behind Anderson for the series. He has one delivery at Chris Martin to tie things up, but everyone's favourite number 11 defends it solidly to mid-off. And that gets a bigger cheer than Oram's six, or any of the wickets to fall today. It's Monty Syndrome.

Over 11 Anderson 0-1-2-0-2-0 221-7 - Broad's taken some punishment from Oram and now, with Mills down that end, he's out of the attack, Such is life. Anderson is back into the attack, and he'd love a couple of wickets to get to 10 for the match. A big swinger from Anderson comes off bat and pad and squirts away to cover. After a bit of hesitation they scamper through for a single before Oram collects two more with another booming drive that is only half-stopped at cover. He gets two more with another drive and he's just a great player to watch when he plays his shots. Just makes the tentative, uncertain innings he sometimes plays all the more baffling.

Over 10 Sidebottom 0-0-0-0-1-0 216-7 - Mills gets off the mark with a single, and Oram lets the last ball of Sidebottom's over through to Ambrose. It did come back at the left-hander and wasn't that far from the off stump as it passed.

Over 9 Broad 0-4-4-0-0-2 215-7 - With only three wickets remaining now we should see even more shots from Big Jacob. There are three men out in the deep on the legside, so he goes for the offside instead. He cuts hard behind point and beats third-man before smashing a drive on the up that flies past cover and smashes into the boards. Great entertainment for this big fourth-day crowd. Oram slaps the last ball of the over out to deep midwicket where Monty does the fielding. Huge cheers, and Oram happy to come back for a second run and trust Mills to deal with Sidebottom. In fairness, Mills did score a 50 in the last Test. Don't think Oram will be taking those second runs once Mills goes.

Over 8 Sidebottom 0-0-0-W-0-0 205-7 - WICKET! Sidebottom's doing the job in fine style today. A big wicket for England as Vettori is tempted into driving without due care and attention at a full, wide swinging ball. He can only slice the ball off the outside half of the bat to gully, where Kevin Pietersen holds a simple catch. The door is open for England now, with only Kyle Mills and the two worst batsmen in Test cricket to come. Vettori, meanwhile, has had a disappointing series with the bat after being so impressive when the sides met in New Zealand earlier this year.

Over 7 Broad 6-1-0-1-0-0 205-6 - Broad goes round the wicket to Oram, who smashes another short ball into the new stand. Superb shot - but he didn't middle it. If he had, it'd still be travelling. Broad persists with the short ball and gets pulled again. This time it's all along the ground, though, and gets just a single. The pitch is just too slow for this short-pitched policy. England need to rethink here - the full ball is far more likely to do the trick here. Vettori gets off the mark with a quick single to cover, wisely opting to get Oram back on strike. He's going after every ball here, and has a big swing and a miss at a wide one before trying the same again to a ball that's a bit straighter. Better length from Broad at the end of the over.

Over 6 Sidebottom 0-0-0-0-W-0 197-6 - WICKET! Fine bowling from Sidebottom. He angles the ball across the right-handed Hopkins, beating him once before finding the edge with a repeat delivery. Hopkins had to play, and gets a healthy edge through to Tim Ambrose. England need four more now, but Daniel Vettori joins Oram in the middle so England won't be popping the champagne corks just yet. Wicket-maiden for Sidebottom.

Over 5 Broad 0-4-2-4-0-0 197-5 - Oram looks in good order this morning, and he's giving England something to think about here. Two short balls - one outside the off stump and one straight one - are dispatched to the boundary. The first is flayed through cover the second pulled behind square. Broad persists with the short ball, and this time gets the ball through nearer head height than chest height so Oram isn't interested.

Over 4 Sidebottom 0-0-0-4-0-0 187-5 - Hopkins collects the first boundary of the morning, driving Sidebottom nicely through squre-cover to the boundary in front of the new stand.

Over 3 Broad 1-0-0-0-1-0 183-5 - Oram defends to mid-off, who is set fairly deep, and gets through for a single. Hopkins gets a single from a thick inside edge through square-leg. Quiet start to the day's action.

Over 2 Sidebottom 2-0-0-0-1-0 181-5 - Ryan Sidebottom shares the early-morning bowling duties. He too is looking to get the ball right up to the bat, and Jacob Oram gets the first runs off the bat this morning with a clip through midwicket for two. Nicely played, but the ball did shape away from the left-hander so that particular stroke should be played with caution. Sidebottom changes up with a short ball that Oram initially tries to sway away from before realising it's not as short as he thought. He defends instead to cover and gets a single. Well played in the end.

Over 1 Broad 0wd-0-0-0-0-0-0 178-5 - Stuart Broad, the pick of the England bowlers yesterday, starts the day's proceedings, and immediately finds some swing. It starts too wide, though, and is - perhaps harshly - called by Darrell Hair. Gareth Hopkins, who looks to have a bit of ability with the bat, plays a pleasing cover-drive but gets nothing for it thanks to a fine diving stop from Ian Bell at cover. Broad's strategy clear here - pitch the ball up and give it chance to swing.

WELCOME To a gloriously sunny Trent Bridge, where England will hope to complete their series victory today. There are still a couple of dangerous Kiwis to dislodge, and England will know their work is not yet done. But in truth the main talking point today is whether England can win this by an innings or if New Zealand can at least make them back again. Well, that and the dollar signs currently swivelling round in the eyes of every county cricketer ahead of the Twenty20 Cup.