New Zealand captain praises England's bowlers

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming sang the praises of the England new ball bowling attack on the eve of the deciding one-day international in Dunedin.

Speaking to media on Monday, Fleming said the New Zealand batsmen had not fired in the last two matches -- both defeats for the hosts -- and this concerned him going into the final match of the series locked 2-2.

"The England attack bowled very well in Napier and Auckland," Fleming said. "The opening spells have put us on the back foot. Gough [Darren] is always demanding, but Hoggard [Matthew] was the best in Auckland.

"He got two of us early on, and just got better throughout his eight overs [the maximum in the rain-reduced match of 40 over]. It was only after he had finished that Chris Cairns and Chris Harris were able to get going, and by then it was probably too late.

"Flintoff [Andrew] also bowled superbly and he finished us off. Eight overs for 17 runs is exceptional when we were looking at scoring quick runs."

Because of the form of the batsmen, Fleming said Brendon McCullum would probably play on his home ground, Carisbrook, in the deciding match.

Mail Cricket Editor