Pundits and columnists alike were full of criticism for England captain Alastair Cook this morning after his extremely conservative decision-making.
Despite the morning session being curtailed by the weather at both ends England were able to grab the wickets of McCullum and Southee, leaving the Black Caps with two wickets in hand when the weather interrupted play.
Play resumed at 3pm under grey skies at Headingley, and Swann, who had been turning the ball viciously since his first delivery, claimed Bracewell’s wicket.
With Wagner and Boult left at the wicket, neither looked as if they had any intention of getting a run.
The plan, it seemed was that Boult would play Swann, and Wagner would take on Finn, and so the overs trickled on in front of an understandably sparse crowd.
England eventually accrued nine maidens in a row, before Cook brought on Anderson in an attempt to get Swann to bowl to Wagner.
Anderson instead took the final wicket with Boult edging to Prior to win the test and the series 2-0.
The Black Caps will go into the third test looking for some serious redemption after two very poor batting performances in a row.
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