England steady after Vaughan exit

England recovered from the early loss of captain Michael Vaughan to extend their commanding lead over New Zealand to 200 in the second Test.

Resuming the third morning at the Basin Reserve 148 runs ahead on four without loss, the tourists were looking to build a winning lead as they attempt to bounce back quickly from their opening Test defeat in Hamilton.

But after losing England captain Vaughan in the sixth over of the morning, left-handers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss guided England into a 200-run lead on 56 for one after an hour's play.

Both Vaughan and opening partner Cook were cautious in the early stages knowing that early wickets would give New Zealand renewed hope of battling their way back into the match.

They did not record their first boundary until the fifth over of the day when Vaughan emerged from his defensive mode to drive seamer Chris Martin down the ground for four.

But New Zealand gained renewed hope that it was still a wicket which favoured the bowling side in the next over with seamer Kyle Mills inducing Cook into edging behind.

Cook, then on five, looked behind fearing his fate but wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum dived to his left to try and take the catch one-handed but missed just as the ball seemed to be heading for the safe hands of Stephen Fleming at first slip.

It was only a temporary reprieve, however, with Mills making the early breakthrough five balls later with a ball which bounced more than Vaughan expected and he edged behind to McCullum.

England responded to that loss positively with Strauss claiming an early boundary while Cook, not regarded as one of the bigger hitters in the side, claiming the first six of his 26-Test career.

Attempting to pull Martin, Cook mis-timed the shot completely but got enough elevation on it to send it flying over the top of the wicketkeeper and the slips and over the third man boundary.