Vaughan praises England display

England captain Michael Vaughan was pleased with his team's performance, particularly in the field, after they finally won a match in Australia.

England held their nerve to beat New Zealand by three wickets with one ball to spare, having made life difficult for themselves with the bat.

Vaughan said: "We squeezed them well on the field. Jimmy Anderson really set the tone with his opening spell.

"Chasing 205 on that kind of wicket was always going to be quite difficult."
Vaughan defended England's slow start with the bat, which meant Andrew Flintoff (72 not out off 75 balls) had to take the attack to the bowlers as soon as he came in at number six.

The skipper said: "We have to understand the position we are in in one-day cricket.
"We have to go back to basics a little bit and set up platforms for us to win. Now hopefully we can move on to Brisbane and win that game [against Australia on Friday] as well."

Unsurprisingly, Vaughan was quick to praise Flintoff, whose spell of 2-37 along with his batting made him the obvious choice for man of the match.

"One thing I've wanted to do for a long time is finish a game. Today was the perfect opportunity"

Andrew Flintoff

"Freddie has had an outstanding game," said Vaughan. "We have seen a guy that can win us games and that's great for us to have."

Flintoff said the earlier batsmen had not put too much pressure on him to score fast.

"The [required] run rate never got too much," he said.

"When I went to the crease it was 5.5 and it got up to just under seven which is achievable. We had a few wickets in hand.

"If you keep doing the right things in practice they come out in the middle"

Paul Nixon

"One thing I've wanted to do for a long time is finish a game. Today was the perfect opportunity."

Paul Nixon, who put on 60 with Flintoff, said: "It is a huge win for the guys. They have worked so hard.

"We played positively in the field and bowled well and Freddie stuck to his guns to see it through brilliantly.

"When you want it so much it is important you see it through. A lot of fans have waited a long time for this.

"It is all about being positive and upbeat. If you keep doing the right things in practice they come out in the middle."