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Poor record sparked new zeal!

Captain Stephen Fleming used New Zealand's poor record against England as a motivating factor in pushing them towards their first-ever Test victory at Lord's on Sunday.

New Zealand's nine-wicket win in the second Test, with a day to spare, was the country's first success at Lord's in 13 Tests, and only their fifth victory against England at any venue in 80 matches.

"Our history is something that's important to us and we've used that as motivation," Fleming said.

"In 70 years of Tests we've only (previously) achieved two Test wins in England and one series win. So for us to win at the home of cricket is quite emotional."

Fleming felt the difference between their performance in the first Test at Edgbaston, where they lost by seven wickets, and that at Lord's was that they did not surrender the initiative.

"We kept our foot on their throat," he said. "If we'd had to chase 150 or 200 to win it would have been pretty tasty, so there was a bit of anxiety at the start of the day, but we kept getting wickets at just the right time."

Fleming said his players were astonished when England's last man Phil Tufnell was given not out to a catch at slip after the third umpire was given only one angle to study on the television replay.

He said: "They've got 23 cameras and only one shot was used. We probably looked a bit rude walking off but we were so adamant it was out. But there was nothing personal. Phil Tufnell was entitled to stand there. We have some emotional players, but there was no personal abuse of anyone."

The match referee, South African Peter van der Merwe, is expected to remind both teams of the need for restraint when he meets the two captains before the third Test at Old Trafford, starting on August 5.

England still do not know who their captain will be for that game. Nasser Hussain, who broke a finger while fielding on Saturday, assessed his chances of being fit as "50-50".

The England selectors will consider other options at their meeting next Saturday, which include recalling former captain Michael Atherton on his home ground.

Atherton has been suffering from back trouble this season which has restricted his appearances for Lancashire and kept him out of the England reckoning.

Hussain said: "These things usually take two or three weeks and I don't want to miss any games if at all possible."

Hussain said England would need to improve their batting to win the four-match series, which is now level 1-1.

"It was a poor performance," he added. "We were always paying for not putting a good score on the board in the first innings. All credit to New Zealand, but we'll pick ourselves up. Our heads are not going down."

UNI