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Cairns puts England on the back foot
Chris Cairns took three wickets to leave England on 225 for five at close on the second day.
Chris Cairns, in his final Test before retirement, took three prize wickets to leave England on the defensive in the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Friday.
At the close England were 225 for five, 159 behind New Zealand's first innings 384 with Graham Thorpe unbeaten on 30 and nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard nought not out.
All-rounder Cairns, in his 62nd Test and playing on the ground where he starred for Nottinghamshire, took three for 61 including the wicket of dangerman Andrew Flintoff who made a rapid 54.
England, after losing two early wickets, resumed after tea on 99 for two with Marcus Trescothick 45 not out and captain Michael Vaughan 44 not out.
Vaughan was first to his fifty, getting there in style with a pulled six off James Franklin, his half-century coming in just 49 balls with eight fours.
Left-hander Trescothick followed his skipper to the landmark but both men fell soon afterwards.
Vaughan went first when pace bowler Cairns's slower ball, an off-cutter, kept low and had the Yorkshire batsman plumb lbw for 61.
Together with Trescothick, Vaughan put on 110 for the third wicket after England had been in dire trouble at 18 for two.
But 128 for three became 140 for four when Trescothick, on 63, edged a drive off left-arm swing bowler Franklin and was caught by Scott Styris at wide third slip. Franklin ended the day with two for 64.
Flintoff, who scored 94 in the second Test, maintained the attacking tone by pulling a Cairns bouncer for four before a sliced boundary off Styris saw England past the follow-on target of 185.
He brought up his fifty when, to the first ball after a brief rain break he cut Cairns for four. His 74-ball half-century featured 48 runs in boundaries (12 fours) and only four singles.
But Flintoff faced just five more balls before Cairns's leg-cutter had him lbw for 54. Together with Thorpe he shared a fifth-wicket stand of 81.
Earlier Cairns struck with his third ballo have Andrew Strauss edging to wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum for a duck to leave England one for one in the second over.
But the injury problems that have plagued New Zealand on this tour resurfaced in the next over when Chris Martin limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.
Franklin, called up from English club side Blackburn, completed the over and struck next when he had Mark Butcher edging a drive through to Styris at second slip for five.
Vaughan pulled debutant fast bowler Kyle Mills's first ball in Test cricket for four.
Meanwhile Trescothick, who made 132 in the second Test, was carrying on from where he left off in Leeds.
England needed just 18 balls after lunch to wrap up the New Zealand innings with Matthew Hoggard, taking his 100th Test wicket, involved in all three dismissals as the tourists subsided from their interval score of 374 for seven.
New Zealand started the day on 295 for four.
Styris, 68 not out overnight, saw a four off Flintoff take him to a chanceless hundred, his first Test century against England and the fourth of his career, in 161 balls with 15 fours.
But on 108 he holed out against left-arm spinner Ashley Giles.
England had already won the three-match series following a seven-wicket victory at Lord's and Monday's nine-wicket win at Headingley.
New Zealand needed to win this Test in order to avoid the fate of their 1978 predecessors who lost 3-0 in England - the last time England whitewashed a side in a major Test series.
