England collapse at Old Trafford

England's bid to bounce back in the second npower Test came to an abrupt halt this morning after a stunning collapse allowed New Zealand to take command at Old Trafford.

Resuming the third morning trailing by 229 runs on 152 for four but with Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell at the crease, England had hoped to frustrate New Zealand for long enough to at least achieve parity.

But they capitulated to 202 all out after losing six wickets for 42 runs in 103 balls to concede a 179-run first-innings deficit, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori claiming five for 66 - his second successive five-wicket haul.

New Zealand faced three overs in their second innings before lunch and safely negotiated them with Aaron Redmond scoring the only run.

Pietersen began the collapse with Vettori striking in the eighth over of the morning with a turning delivery which was edged to Ross Taylor at slip, one of three catches for him during the morning session. Bell followed three overs later when he dangled the bat at seamer Iain O'Brien for Taylor's second catch of the morning, this time at the second attempt.

Those two quick dismissals were body blows to England's cause and they were followed in Vettori's next over by the loss of Paul Collingwood, who is yet to reach double figures in this series.

Vettori completed his five-wicket haul by dismissing wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose six overs later when he drove at a full-length delivery and edged low to Taylor at slip.

Monty Panesar lasted only three minutes before edging seamer Kyle Mills behind and was superbly caught by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum diving to his left.

As last man Jimmy Anderson walked out to bat, England were still two runs short of saving the follow-on but fortunately Stuart Broad demonstrated his composure with an aggressive 30 to at least take his side past 200.

Looking for quick runs, however, Broad drove Mills straight to extra cover to leave England needing a vastly-improved performance to prevent defeat against a side captain Michael Vaughan had dismissed as "workmanlike".