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With the deciding third Test against England all but lost, New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee provided the crowd with a little excitement before the visitors wrapped up a 121-run victory on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old debutant smashed 77 not out off just 40 balls, including nine sixes. Southee’s first Test half century came off just 29 balls, a record for a New Zealander, and it was all done with a bat borrowed from teammate Stephen Fleming.

“Flem looked at my bats and asked what sort of sticks did GM (Gunn and Moore) give you?,” Southee told reporters. “He looked at them and said ‘try this one out’ (and) gave me one of his.

“I went out there today with it. There’s nothing wrong with mine. His were just another step up.” Southee was particularly brutal on left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, who had gone to lunch with figures of six for 85. His three overs after the interval cost 41 runs, including 24 off one.

“He’s bowled well throughout the series but I thought I’d have a swing and it came off,” Southee added. Southee said he was just following the advice of his captain Daniel Vettori. “He said to me to try and hang around as long as we can and any runs we get are a bonus,” Southee said. “That’s all we had in mind. “I got a couple out of the middle and just carried on from there after the break. I might have got them to sweat at bit but it was a massive target to chase.”

Source:Cricket News