England level series

upset loss in the first match in Hamilton, England bounced back after standout performances from Anderson and up-and-coming batsman Joe Root.
England’s top order rose to the occasion, with half-centuries to captain Alastair Cook (78), Jonathan Trott (65) and Root (79), the 22-year-old tipped as a future star.

But the foundation for England’s victory came from a miserly five for 34 from Anderson, who swept through New Zealand’s batsmen to restrict the home side’s total.

“We gave them nothing to get going really, we took some wickets and put them under pressure,” Cook said.
Anderson’s scalps included both the Black Caps opening batsmen and Ross Taylor. His century late in New Zealand’s innings threatened to set England a formidable total, along with a quickfire 74 from 36 balls from Brendon McCullum.

The Black Caps made a slow start after being sent in to bat on a tame wicket and were all out for 269 after 48.5 overs, with England reaching the target of 270 after 47.4 overs.

“We were probably about 20 runs under par . . . with 270, I thought we needed early wickets but we weren’t able to get them,” said Black Caps skipper McCullum.

New Zealand, missing injured opener Martin Guptill, were pedestrian, with the first boundary coming when Hamish Rutherford pulled a delivery from Anderson in the fifth over.

Anderson dismissed openers B. J. Watling (7) and ODI debutant Rutherford (11) cheaply as New Zealand’s frustration mounted and the home side were on just 22 runs after 12 overs. — AFP.