Close England 244 for 5 (Knight 80, Thorpe 52, Cairns 3-51) beat New Zealand 201 (Fleming 76*, Collingwood 4-38) by 43 runs
scorecard

"You got us into this mess - you get us out of it." That was the message to England's cricketers, as Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher kept faith with the side that took part in last week's debacle at Wellington. At two down with three to play, with Stephen Fleming eying a 5-0 clean sweep, an England victory wasn't just important, it was imperative.

And to their credit, England duly served up a victory, although it came courtesy of the most unlikely of sources. Man of the Match Paul Collingwood began his spell with faintly disturbing career figures (three wickets at 101 apiece, with an economy rate of 5.59), but in a jaw-dropping display of outswing bowling, he did to the New Zealand batsmen what their medium-pacers have done to teams the world over.

Collingwood grabbed 4 for 38, including the entire middle order - Vincent, Cairns, Harris and Adams - as New Zealand crumbled from 128 for 3 in the 30th over to 201 all out in the 47th. He came on at a vital stage of the innings, replacing a worryingly under-the-weather Craig White, who had been milked for five runs in each of his three overs.

Collingwood's triumph also gave Nasser Hussain's captaincy a boost. He had sometimes looked bereft of ideas in the first two matches, but was now back to his scheming best. With a decent if unintimidating total of 244 to defend, Hussain attacked from the start. He was not afraid to bowl Matthew Hoggard straight through, despite his first seven overs disappearing for 40, and all the players responded to this show of faith. Hoggard finished with 2 for 44 from his ten overs, and New Zealand were faced with a side whose self-belief had returned.

Only Stephen Fleming looked composed. He came in at the fall of Nathan Astle - unluckily given out caught off the tassles of his trouser waistband in the third over (10 for 1) - and batted through the innings for 76. If Fleming had received any lasting support, he might have sealed the series, but Chris Nevin spoiled his usual rollicking start by top-edging an attempted leg-side steer to the substitute Ben Hollioake in the gully (31 for 2). Then Craig McMillan was out-thought by Hussain and Hoggard, flailing a wide outswinger to Collingwood, cleverly positioned at short third man (70 for 3). From then on it was Collingwood's show all the way.

England's innings had been a familiar story. It promised to be great, but ended up merely good. Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick battered the New Zealand bowlers, taking 71 runs from the first 12 overs, and Flintoff and Graham Thorpe added some quickfire runs towards the end, but in between the innings lost momentum.

A half-hour delay for rain didn't help, and on the resumption Knight and Nasser Hussain were unable to find their fluidity. Hussain was particularly stodgy, and when he was out to a premeditated sweep that clipped his leg stump, he had managed just 24 runs in 48 balls (127 for 2).

But Knight played a courageous knock, scoring 80 in 129 balls despite top-edging a swift delivery from Butler into his chin. He later came out to field with three stitches, and a plaster that made him look like a semi-shaved Santa Claus.

England might not have scored quite as many runs as they wished, but it would still have required a record-equalling total to overhaul them. But Paul Collingwood and his wobblers were on hand to ensure that this series remains alive for another day.

Teams
England 1 Marcus Trescothick (wk), 2 Nick Knight, 3 Nasser Hussain (capt), 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Owais Shah, 8 Craig White, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

New Zealand 1 Chris Nevin (wk), 2 Nathan Astle, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Lou Vincent, 6 Chris Cairns, 7 Chris Harris, 8 Andre Adams, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Ian Butler.

Andrew Miller is on the staff of Wisden.com

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