Hussain leads from front with defiant ton

England skipper Nasser Hussain led from the front on Wednesday with a splendid century after his side had lost two wickets in the opening over of the first Test against New Zealand.

Hussain, blending patience with aggression, scored 106 out of an England total of 228. He reached his 10th Test century with a classic cover-drive off debutant Ian Butler and immediately raised his arms in triumph.

His vintage captain's innings had taken 325 minutes and came off 233 balls with 14 boundaries.

New Zealand, who faced six overs before the close, lost opener Mark Richardson LBW to Matthew Hoggard for two to finish the day nine for one as the ball continued to move extravagantly off the seam.

Chris Cairns, New Zealand's key player, fully vindicated Stephen Fleming's decision to ask England to bat on the imported pitch at Jade Stadium when he beat Marcus Trescothick with his first two deliveries before forcing an involuntary edge from the Somerset left-hander.

Two balls later he had Mark Butcher caught by debutant Ian Butler running in from mid-off and then ended a promising innings from Michael Vaughan, who had hooked two sixes in an enterprising 27.

ASTLE BREAKTHROUGH

But Butler and Chris Drum were unable to exert similar control and Fleming was forced to turn to the gentle medium pace of Nathan Astle before lunch, which was taken with England on 89 for four.

Astle made the breakthrough after lunch with the aid of a dubious umpiring decision from Sri Lanka's Asoka de Silva. The umpire, who was appointed to the International Cricket Council's panel of eight elite umpires, gave Mark Ramprakash out caught behind when the ball appeared to go between the bat and the flap of his pad.

Hussain and Ramprakash had put on 56 for the fifth wicket, with the Surrey batsman playing some attractive strokes, hitting six fours in his fluent 31.

England then received a boost when the normally reliable Fleming spilled a chance off Hussain at first slip when the England captain had scored 52.

New Zealand did have the consolation of Andy Flintoff's wicket, LBW to Astle without scoring shuffling forward but they found wicketkeeper James Foster harder to shift. Foster scored a determined 19, including a glorious straight drive for four off Cairns in the final over before the tea interval.

Butler went some way to compensating for his earlier inaccuracy when he took two late wickets. Although an lbw decision against Andy Caddick appeared to be missing all three stumps.

Cairns, who was used sparingly after appearing to be suffering from a back injury, took his Test tally to 197 with three for 58 while Drum captured three for 36.

Mail Cricket Editor