England XI 163 for 5 (Flintoff 45*, Yovich 3-33) beat Northern Districts 160 (Bradburn 46, Flintoff 3-20) by 5 wickets
scorecard It wasn't convincing, but England have won their first game of the tour. On a lazy, cloudy afternoon at Hamilton, they were teetering at 96 for 5 in pursuit of 161 before a flurry of boundaries from Owais Shah and Andy Flintoff averted another embarrassing defeat.

Flintoff is fast becoming England's premier allrounder. He generated real pace to claim 3 for 20, then took the Northern Districts bowlers apart with a series of clumping blows, blasting 45 not out off 25 balls, 42 of them in boundaries. Despite giving Shah a 12-over start, Flintoff rushed past him within five, pulling Simon Doull for four, then launching Scott Styris down the ground for six. The shirt, though, stayed on.

Shah made a good case for selection in the one-day series with a cool knock that mixed solid defence with wristy drives and, on one occasion, his favourite pick-up shot over square leg. His case was helped by another failure for Michael Vaughan, who opened the innings, hooked his third ball for six, and was caught behind off his fifth. David Gower would have been proud.

It set the tone for the early part of the innings: five England batsmen hit a six, but only Flintoff and Shah hung around. Nick Knight miscued Joey Yovich to backward point and was out for 17 (55 for 2), and Graham Thorpe, on 2, top-edged a hook off Yovich to fine leg where Michael Parlane took a juggling catch; replays suggested his foot was on the painted boundary line as he held on.

Nasser Hussain survived a huge shout for caught behind off Daryl Tuffey before he had scored, then lifted him for a straight six before becoming involved in some feisty banter with the seriously nippy Ian Butler. But when he nibbled at one outside off and was caught behind for 29, Yovich had three wickets in three overs and England were 74 for 4.

Craig White loitered without intent for a while and Northern Districts started to get excited when he cut Simon Doull to gully, where Hamish Marshall, diving to his left, took a smart one-handed catch. White was out for 15 and England were 96 for 5. But that was before Flintoff got going.

Earlier England improved on their sloppy showing in the field on Friday to limit Northern Districts to a meagre 160. From 52 for 1 they lost 5 for 19 in eight overs as England bowled with discipline and aggression on a wicket that offered the seamers more bounce than lateral movement. All the bowlers contributed, with the notable exception of Andy Caddick, who again struggled for rhythm and leaves Hamilton with figures of 1 for 104 in two matches. Welcome home.

The ND collapse virtually ended the game as a contest. James Marshall pulled Flintoff to Ashley Giles at mid-on to fall for 18 (52 for 2) and the middle order sank like a soggy souffle. Styris, who had just learned that he had been dropped from New Zealand's one-day squad, nibbled at Giles and was caught behind for 1 (61 for 3), and shortly after Giles bowled the beefy Parlane behind his legs for 25 as he tried to sweep (64 for 4). In the next over Matthew Hart, on 2, nicked White to Knight at second slip (66 for 5), and the collapse was complete when Hamish Marshall chopped White onto his stumps as he tried to cut a ball that was too close to him. With Marshall out for 6, it was 71 for 6 and – almost – game over.

The innings hadn't even reached the halfway stage, and as Northern Districts set out their stall to use up the 50 overs and England's close fielders got closer and closer, the runs dried up. Giles found turn and occasionally alarming bounce, White settled in outside off, and just three runs came in six overs. This was Sunday-afternoon cricket at its most soporific.

The only real resistance after that came from Rob Hart, who lifted Giles over long-off for six before he was bowled by Vaughan for 22 (115 for 7); and Grant Bradburn, who hooked Gough for four and was last man out, for 46, when Gough had him caught behind heaving.

Earlier, to England's relief, Doull failed to repeat the fireworks of the first game, when he smashed 80 off 47 balls. Dropped by Darren Gough at long leg on 9, Doull perished in the next over, scooping Gough to Thorpe at mid-on to fall for 11 (15 for 1). Without Doull there to crank it up, the innings spluttered, then choked. The real stuff starts on Wednesday.

Teams
England 1 Nick Knight, 2 Michael Vaughan, 3 Nasser Hussain (capt), 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Owais Shah, 6 Craig White, 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 James Foster (wk), 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Andrew Caddick, 11 Darren Gough.

Northern Districts 1 James Marshall, 2 Simon Doull, 3 Michael Parlane, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Matthew Hart, 6 Hamish Marshall, 7 Grant Bradburn, 8 Robert Hart (capt/wk), 9 Joseph Yovich, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Ian Butler.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com. His reports will appear here throughout England's tour of New Zealand.

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