The Commonwealth Bank Series, 2006-07

At Hobart, January 16, 2007. England won by three wickets. England 4 pts. Toss: New Zealand.

Seventy-two days after arriving in Australia, England finally managed their first win of the tour, but only after a tense finish. Flintoff made the difference, hitting the winning run from the secondlast ball to conclude a nerveless 72 from 75 balls. In temperatures that reached 33°C, Flintoff 's sweat streamed from his helmet as he plotted the late path to victory. England had bowled well to restrict New Zealand to 205, with Anderson producing his best performance of the tour. He took three of his four wickets in a damaging first spell: it needed an eighth-wicket stand of 39 between Franklin and Bond to inflate the target. England started slowly, scoring only 24 in the first ten overs, not helped when Vaughan needed a runner after injuring his leg in the field. Strauss's unlucky streak continued when Steve Davis gave him out lbw after an inside edge, and Flintoff arrived in the 31st over at a rocky 98 for four. His stands with Bell and Nixon regained the initiative, and England needed only six from the final two overs. Dalrymple departed to a sharp gully catch, then Lewis took six balls over two singles. Flintoff, who had been caught off a toohigh full toss when 62, finally sent the England supporters into the seemingly obsolete ritual of a victory dance. But there was still bad news to come: Vaughan's scans revealed a torn left hamstring, which would force him to miss the next five matches. To some surprise, England announced that Flintoff would resume the captaincy - most observers expected that the Ashes debacle would lead to Strauss being chosen ahead of him.

Man of the Match: A. Flintoff. Attendance: 6,545.