New Zealand vs England, 2nd ODI at Napier, , Feb 20 2013 - Match Result

Well that's the cricket done for today, but the Formula One season is slowly getting into gear and the teams are testing in Barcelona right now. We have reporters there so for live commentary and chat visit our sister site at ESPNf1. Otherwise, on behalf of Alan Gardner whose full match report will be up shortly, this is Avi Singh thanking you all for your feedback today and hoping you enjoyed our coverage. We hope you will join us on Saturday for the deciding ODI. Until then, it's goodbye from all of the team, including the hidden heros Robin Abrahams and Venkat Raghav. at ESPNcricinfo. Ciao!

Alistair Cook: "We bowled outstandingly upfront and we gave them nothing to get going, it was a fantastic knock by Brendon to get them up to a big score. Steven [Finn] seemed to generate more pace off his shorter run-up. We knew if we kept our heads batting, it was quite an easy chase. [Joe Root] has been excellent, has a lot of talent and is working very hard, but we need to keep his feet on the ground, you know what these Yorkshiremen are like! I thought we bowled okay and sometimes the batters are just too good. Nice to be back in the series."

And here's Brendon McCullum: "We were 20 runs under-par, 270 was defendable if we took wickets up front. England put pressure on us early on with the ball and played brilliantly with the bat. Credit to James Anderson pushing into the wind, but we gave ourselves some opportunities and if we'd got to 300, we might have had a better chance. Pleased for Ross to bounce back with a hundred and hit some form. The pace bowlers couldn't quite hit the lengths so I though Nathan and Kane did very well. It's a bizarre series where we're winning one and losing one so hopefully we'll win 2-1!"

There are no Man of the Match awards for this series but Jimmy Anderson is having a chat after his five-for today: "I'm delighted with how I bowled and how we went as a unit today. Obviously we wanted to bounce back after the disappointment of Hamilton and it was great for the guys to take us home. There was a bit of bounce in the pitch and we stuck at it, despite Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum who played very well. We knew the average score here was 300 so once we kept them below that, we were in with a chance."

That was a thoroughly professional performance today from England, who only lost control of the game during Taylor and McCullum's devastating partnership. Either side of that, the bowling was parsimonious at the beginning and recovered well after the onslaught to clean out the home side's tail, Anderson grabbing five wickets for only 34. Their run chase then progressed very smoothly, never looking in any real trouble after Cook and Bell had set them on their way before Cook and Trott carried on to a point where the precocious Joe Root could show off his range of skills with Trott quietly chugging away in the background. In terms of the series, this result sets up a tantalising decider on Saturday at Auckland's Eden Park - 1-1 it is!

Dan: "I think a lot of the problem around Trott is pure perception - this is a very good innings, but he's only scored three boundaries so people say he's useless. T20 has taught people that if a batsman isn't hitting three or four boundaries every over he's no good..."

Nathan took the big risk of mailing this prediction in with 1 run required for victory: "I'm willing to stick my neck out on this one: England to win."

RobNZ: "I hope people don't get too excited about Taylor's century. Batting at less than a run a ball on this ground is batting to lose! He didn't do NZ any favours, and left the tail to try and slog a few extra runs."

Guy: "The criticism of Trott baffles me. NZ set target of 5.4 an over, meaning strike rate of 90 required. Trott has scored with a strike rate of 90 and seen us through to victory."

Is it worth noting that Trott's strike rate has inched above 90...?

Zo: "The Trott discussion just confirms how we humans are never satisfied with what we have. He not only sees off the new ball, Trott can consolidate the innings by not allowing wickets to fall from one end while the other players attack. Plus, he has a strike rate of 70+. What are you guys complaining about? He's Trott, not Misbah-ul-tuk tuk!!!"