A superb 99 not out from nightwatchman Alex Tudor led England to a seven wicket victory over New Zealand at Edgbaston on Saturday.

BBC Test Match Special choose their "champagne moment" - Alex Tudor's half century

In a remarkable innings man-of-the-match Tudor pushed, cut and nudged his way through the tourists bowling attack to mark a memorable day at the crease.

"All I was worried about was to win the game; that was the most important thing," Tudor said after the match.

"I might not get the chance of 100 again but I just wanted to win the game with it being Nasser's first as captain.

"I've been working hard on my batting with Mark Ramprakash and Graham Gooch.

"All I tried to do was get bat on ball. If they gave me width, I flayed the bat and more often than not it went for four."

Nasser Hussain: "It was a team effort but fair play to Alex he was superb"

Tudor, put in by England on Friday after New Zealand had taken the wicket of Alec Stewart for just one run, secured his highest score with a wonderful array of shots.

He saw out Mark Butcher and captain Nasser Hussain to lead England to a vital victory after a miserable day on Friday.

Facing a target of 208 to win and with one wicket already gone the tourists were widely tipped as favourites on a wicket that clearly favoured the bowlers.

Quick runs

But opener Mark Butcher and Tudor started well at a run a minute, with the Surrey bowler exceeding all expectations at the crease.

Man-of-the-match Alex Tudor: "I just tried to be myself"

Tudor's 99 not out was the best ever by an English nightwatchman, beating the 98 scored by Harold Larwood against Australia in Sydney in 1932-33.

He scored his maiden half century off 62 balls, including 11 boundaries and continued in aggressive fashion until the last ball.

Mark Butcher: Forged a strong start with the England paceman

England lost a wicket in each session on Saturday, going to lunch at 127-2 - still 81 runs behind - and completing the win within 14 overs in the second session.

After sharing a 73-run stand with Butcher (33), who was caught behind by Adam Parore off Dion Nash's bowling, Tudor then combined with captain Nasser Hussain for a 98 run partnership.

Hussain, the third England captain in 18 months, scored 44 runs before missing an attempted drive off Geoff Allott and was bowled with the England total at 174-3.

Tudor and Graham Thorpe, who was 21 not out at the end, then scored the required 34 runs for victory.

Caddick back to form

New Zealand had started the Test well, notching up an impressive 226 in their first innings after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Stephen Fleming: "We lost the match - Tudor just caught us off-guard"

But Friday marked a remarkable day's play with 21 wickets taken as England were dismissed for 126, before the tourists fell to an even more agonising 107.

Andrew Caddick, who had saved England with a 60-run partnership alongside Tudor in the first innings, then returned to wreak havoc on the New Zealand batting lineup.

Alan Mullally started the demise, removing the top three batsman before New Zealand-born Caddick took five successive wickets and the Kiwis slumped to 52-8.

With 20 minutes of play remaining, New Zealand were bowled out with an overall lead of 207 when Phil Tufnell picked up the last two wickets.

Cornhill Insurance First Test: England v New Zealand
3 Jul 99 at Edgbaston

England beat New Zealand by 7 wkts

Scorecard correct at 13:40 GMT 14:40 UK

England second innings 211 for 3 (43.4overs)
New Zealand second innings 107 all out (37.1overs)
England first innings 126 all out (46.4overs)
New Zealand first innings 226 all out (88.4overs)

England second innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MA Butcher	c Parore	b Nash	33	67	4	-
AJ Stewart		b Allott	0	3	-	-
AJ Tudor		not out	99	119	21	-
N Hussain		b Allott	44	57	10	-
GP Thorpe		not out	21	21	3	-
Extras	7b 2lb 0w 5nb		14
TOTAL:	3 wkts, 43.4 overs		211

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (3 Stewart, 3 mins), 2-76 (73 Butcher, 74 mins), 3-174 (98 Hussain, 79 mins)
Still to bat: M R Ramprakash, A Habib, C M W Read, A R Caddick, A D Mullally, P C R Tufnell

Bowler	O	M	R	W
G I Allott	15	0	71	2
S B Doull	7	0	48	0
D L Vettori	6	1	22	0
D J Nash	7	0	29	1
C L Cairns	4	0	18	0
N J Astle	1	1	0	0
C D McMillan	3.4	0	14	0

New Zealand second innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
RG Twose	lbw	b Caddick	0	1	-	-
MJ Horne	c Read	b Mullally	1	13	-	-
SP Fleming	c Read	b Tufnell	25	86	4	-
NJ Astle	c Read	b Mullally	9	14	2	-
CD McMillan	c Butcher	b Mullally	15	32	1	-
CL Cairns	c Read	b Caddick	3	7	-	-
AC Parore	c Stewart	b Caddick	0	2	-	-
DJ Nash	c Read	b Caddick	0	13	-	-
DL Vettori		b Caddick	0	2	-	-
SB Doull	st Read	b Tufnell	46	50	8	-
GI Allott		not out	0	5	-	-
Extras	1b 4lb 1w 2nb		8
TOTAL:	37.1 overs		107

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (0 Twose, - mins), 2-5 (5 Horne, 14 mins), 3-17 (12 Astle, 16 mins), 4-39 (22 McMillan, 40 mins), 5-46 (7 Cairns, 13 mins), 6-46 (0 Parore, 1 mins), 7-52 (6 Nash, 17 mins), 8-52 (0 Vettori, 1 mins), 9-106 (54 Fleming, 64 mins), 10-107 (1 Doull, - mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A R Caddick	14	3	32	5
A D Mullally	16	3	48	3
A J Tudor	5	2	15	0
P C R Tufnell	2.1	0	7	2

England first innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
MA Butcher		run out	11	25	2	-
AJ Stewart	lbw	b Allott	1	3	-	-
N Hussain		b Doull	10	21	2	-
GP Thorpe	c Astle	b Allott	6	9	-	-
MR Ramprakash	c Parore	b Cairns	0	27	-	-
A Habib		b Cairns	1	27	-	-
CMW Read	c Sub	b Nash	1	25	-	-
AR Caddick	c Parore	b Nash	33	73	6	-
AJ Tudor		not out	32	62	7	-
AD Mullally	c Parore	b Nash	0	1	-	-
PCR Tufnell	c Fleming	b Cairns	6	13	1	-
Extras	8b 11lb 0w 6nb		25
TOTAL:	46.4 overs		126

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (5 Stewart, 9 mins), 2-26 (21 Butcher, 26 mins), 3-28 (2 Hussain, 5 mins), 4-33 (5 Thorpe, 7 mins), 5-38 (5 Ramprakash, 34 mins), 6-40 (2 Habib, 8 mins), 7-45 (5 Read, 16 mins), 8-115 (70 Caddick, 85 mins), 9-115 (0 Mullally, - mins), 10-126 (11 Tufnell, 11 mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
G I Allott	14	3	38	2
S B Doull	12	6	17	1
C L Cairns	9.4	3	35	3
D J Nash	11	6	17	3

New Zealand first innings

Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
RG Twose	c Thorpe	b Mullally	0	3	-	-
MJ Horne	lbw	b Caddick	12	29	1	-
SP Fleming	c Thorpe	b Tudor	27	59	6	-
NJ Astle	c Read	b Butcher	26	53	5	-
CD McMillan	c Thorpe	b Caddick	18	53	2	-
CL Cairns	c &	b Caddick	17	33	2	-
AC Parore	c Read	b Mullally	73	140	9	-
DJ Nash	c Hussain	b Tufnell	21	100	1	-
DL Vettori	c Hussain	b Tufnell	1	15	-	-
SB Doull	c Butcher	b Tufnell	11	15	1	-
GI Allott		not out	7	38	-	-
Extras	1b 5lb 1w 6nb		13
TOTAL:	88.4 overs		226

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (0 Twose, 1 mins), 2-19 (19 Horne, 37 mins), 3-55 (36 Fleming, 43 mins), 4-73 (18 Astle, 31 mins), 5-103 (30 Cairns, 38 mins), 6-104 (1 McMillan, 6 mins), 7-189 (85 Nash, 121 mins), 8-191 (2 Vettori, 12 mins), 9-211 (20 Doull, 17 mins), 10-226 (15 Parore, 47 mins)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A D Mullally	26.4	5	72	2
A R Caddick	27	12	57	3
A J Tudor	11	2	44	1
M A Butcher	7	2	25	1
P C R Tufnell	17	9	22	3

New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat

Umpires: S A Bucknor, P Willey

England
A J Stewart , M A Butcher , N Hussain (capt) , G P Thorpe , M R Ramprakash , A Habib , C M W Read (wkt) , A J Tudor , A R Caddick , A D Mullally , P C R Tufnell ,

New Zealand
M J Horne , N J Astle , S P Fleming (capt) , R G Twose , C D McMillan , A C Parore (wkt) , S B Doull , C L Cairns , D J Nash , D L Vettori , G I Allott ,