Vaughan hails Kiwi series win

England captain Michael Vaughan said his side were in a "rich vein of form" after clinching a 2-0 win in their Test series against New Zealand.

England captain Michael Vaughan said his side were in a "rich vein of form" after clinching a 2-0 win in their three-Test series against New Zealand at Headingley on Monday.

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England won the second Test by a crushing nine wickets on 29-year-old Yorkshire batsman Vaughan's home ground.

They bowled out the Kiwis for 161 in their second innings and then needed just 45 runs to win, a target they reached in eight overs.

Following their seven-wicket victory at Lord's it meant they had an unbeatable lead in the series ahead of Thursday's third Test at Trent Bridge.

Vaughan, whose wife Nichola gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter called Tallulah on Friday, told reporters that England had to graft for their victory.

"It took a lot of hard work. There were a lot of ebbs and flows in the game," Vaughan said.

He pinpointed Sunday's final session where England took four quick wickets to leave New Zealand floundering at 102 for five in their second innings as a crucial stage.

"For the Kiwis to score 409 and for us to chase them down and to get past them (England made 526 in their first innings), I always felt there was going to be a period in the game where those little bits were beating the bat and those ones that were bouncing were going to go to hand.

"That period of four wickets in 19 balls was the difference."

Vaughan also praised the contribution of Marcus Trescothick who made 132 in England's first innings. "That was as good as I've seen him hit the ball, a real unbelieveable knock on a quite difficult wicket to bat on."

He added that all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who made 94 in the first innings, was becoming an increasingly potent threat. "Flintoff is maturing into a proper cricketer, I'm very fortunate to be his captain, he's becoming that good.

"It's a frightening prospect where he could end up."

But England's first innings lead of 117 owed much to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones's maiden Test hundred.

"Geraint Jones is very, very exciting... His innings changed the outcome of the game."

This was England's second successive Test series victory after their 3-0 triumph in the Caribbean in April and Vaughan said: "It's probably up there with the West Indies... We all realised New Zealand are a very good team."

England have now won eight of their 12 Tests under Vaughan, who succeeded Nasser Hussain as captain when the now retired Essex batsman — whose last match was the first Test at Lord's — quit the leadership after the drawn home first Test against South Africa last year.

"Losing is a habit, winning is a habit and we are just in a real good rich vein of form. We are expecting to win games of cricket. The team is just working on its own at the minute. It's making my job very easy."

But for many English fans proof that their team really is a major force will only come if they can defeat their oldest rivals, Australia.

England have not won an Ashes series since 1986-87 and Australia are due in England next year.

"Everything is going to be written about can we take the Aussies on. The Aussies are in a year's time. The most important thing is that we are playing good cricket," Vaughan said.

"Let's just enjoy the moment of beating a good Kiwi side, look towards Trent Bridge to make it 3-0 and keep developing and making sure we keep these exciting players pretty level-headed because there is always going to be the odd day, the odd week, where it doesn't go quite so well.

"That's going to be the test of the team."