England romped to a 247 run victory over New Zealand in the second and final test at Headingley yesterday.

Despite the day being interrupted by rain, the English bowlers saw off the remaining wickets, with Nottinghamshire spinner Graeme Swann taking six in the second innings alone and ten overall which led to him taking home the man of the match champagne.

"I may not win too many more of these awards with Joe Root around. I never thought I'd do it at Headingley,” said Swann.

“I actually agreed with the decision not to pick me here last year as I bowled like a drain at The Oval and it looked a seamers' pitch.”

Swann added: “I know we're not allowed to say the 'A' word but it was great to get some wickets ahead of the Ashes.”

“I was delighted to get some wickets, bowling people through the gate normally only happens when you're playing well."

“We all know how good a bowler he is... he’s nigh-on unplayable,” Alastair Cook on Graeme Swann

Captain Alastair Cook was full of praise for Swann after his performance in the second innings, and he said that his haul was no surprise to him, or the rest of the side.

“We all know how good a bowler he is, he doesn’t need the help from the footmarks but when he gets it he’s nigh-on unplayable,” he said.

“It’s great to win 2-0, they were two good performances.”

“I think we played better in this game than we did at Lord's, we knew the weather was about so we needed a couple of hours and the groundsman did a fantastic job,” he added.

While statistically the victory looked comfortable, the nature of the pitch and weather led to questions being asked of Cook’s decision making, many revolving around his decision not to enforce the follow on.

"Tactically, we wanted some more wear into that pitch and you saw quite a few balls misbehaved, the rough getting deeper and deeper, and I think that proved pretty good tactics,” said Cook.

“There are lots of different ways of attacking - you don’t always have to crowd the bat - there are always times when you think you can do things differently.”

 

England will face New Zealand in the third NatWest Series One Day International at Trent Bridge on Wednesday 5 June.

 

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