Sidebottom a steadying hand

England may be closer to a Test win now than they have been at any stage of their tour of New Zealand, but they might equally never have felt as frustrated.

They require four more wickets on the final day to clinch victory in the second Test in Wellington, having reduced New Zealand to 242 for six in their pursuit of a mammoth 438.

Anything other than an England triumph is extremely unlikely - indeed, it would not be a fair reflection of a game which the tourists have controlled since the first afternoon.

Yet, but for a clutch of errors in the field, English celebrations could have been under way already.

In addition to the six wickets they took, England passed up seven opportunities to strengthen their hand further as five catches went down and a run-out and stumping chance was spurned.

For those who subscribe to the ‘glass half full’ theory, the fourth day at the Basin Reserve could be seen as England creating 13 chances on a wicket that, though helpful to the seamers, was far from a greentop.

Indeed, the bowlers can take immense credit for the way they performed in testing conditions, with a fierce wind blowing them off their stride as they strived to overcome occasional pockets of New Zealand resistance.

Ryan Sidebottom, as ever, could not be faulted. Certainly not in terms of effort - he bowled 23 overs, seven more than the next busiest seamer, Stuart Broad.

Nor in the productivity stakes, for he claimed half of the wickets to fall. And no-one would even dare suggest he was lacking in passion: he made no secret of his feelings in the wake of an unsuccessful lbw shout against Brendon McCullum late on a day that tested his and his colleagues’ patience to the full.

It was Sidebottom who made the first breakthrough with the ball, having Jamie How taken at short leg in his fourth over, and it was Sidebottom who capped an ultimately productive day for England by having Jacob Oram caught by Kevin Pietersen at the finer of two gullies off what proved to be the penultimate delivery of the day.

That broke a 69-run stand for the sixth wicket with McCullum which was beginning to take on ominous proportions, Sidebottom having performed a similar feat to remove top-scorer Ross Taylor earlier in the session.

The left-armer also had a tough chance put down by Alastair Cook at gully to reprieve Matthew Bell, and his figures of 3-72 appear all the more impressive given that they make no reference to the occasional misfield.

If Sidebottom was the most effective England bowler, Stuart Broad was only marginally less impressive in his second Test.

The 21-year-old followed up his crucial dismissal of Brendon McCullum in the first innings by removing Matthew Bell and Stephen Fleming in the space of five balls to leave New Zealand 70 for three, underlining the positive impression he has made since his international debut in August 2006.

He too suffered from mistakes in the field, the normally infallible Paul Collingwood grassing a regulation chance at second slip that gave Matthew Bell a second life.

Like Cook’s drop, it cost only a handful of runs, but it said much for England’s superiority in this game that they could afford a less than perfect performance in the field and still appear almost certain winners.