NAPIER, New Zealand (Reuters) - The century partnership between Paul Collingwood and Tim Ambrose in the second test was crucial to England beating New Zealand in the series, victorious captain Michael Vaughan said on Wednesday.
England won the deciding third test by 121 runs at McLean Park in Napier to clinch the series 2-1.
The visitors lost the first test by 189 runs and were reduced to 136 for five on the first day of the second in Wellington before Ambrose and Collingwood shared a 164-run partnership which wrested momentum away from the hosts. England went on to win the match by 126 runs.
"It has been a real hard-fought series, we have had to show an immense character to come back from 1-0 down," Vaughan told reporters.
"A lot of the individual players have had to show strength in character as well. We have got ourselves out of tricky positions in the last two games.
"I think the defining moment of the series was that partnership between Tim Ambrose and Paul Collingwood to get us to 290 for five on the first day. It gave us a huge boost and was the big turning-point of the series."
Reuters
England won the deciding third test by 121 runs at McLean Park in Napier to clinch the series 2-1.
The visitors lost the first test by 189 runs and were reduced to 136 for five on the first day of the second in Wellington before Ambrose and Collingwood shared a 164-run partnership which wrested momentum away from the hosts. England went on to win the match by 126 runs.
"It has been a real hard-fought series, we have had to show an immense character to come back from 1-0 down," Vaughan told reporters.
"A lot of the individual players have had to show strength in character as well. We have got ourselves out of tricky positions in the last two games.
"I think the defining moment of the series was that partnership between Tim Ambrose and Paul Collingwood to get us to 290 for five on the first day. It gave us a huge boost and was the big turning-point of the series."
Reuters
