MICHAEL Vaughan saluted England's resilience after they bounced back to win the second Test against New Zealand but admitted they were still some way from becoming "a proper team."

The England captain celebrated only his side's second overseas Test win in the last 17 outings after they completed a comfortable 126-runs triumph on the final day at the Basin Reserve.

Resuming on 242 for six needing an unlikely 196 to claim victory, New Zealand were dismissed for 311 before lunch with Ryan Sidebottom claiming five for 105 to set up a series finale in Napier next weekend.

It was an impressive turnaround for a side humbled by 189 runs in the opening Test at Hamilton and marks England's first Test triumph in eight matches, but Vaughan is refusing to become carried away by the success.

"I can only say how delighted I am for this set of players and the management because we haven't won many games," said Vaughan. "We've all worked very hard and it's nice to be sat in a dressing room with a victory under our belts.

"There is an improvement there from Hamilton, but there's still a long way to go before we can start saying we're a proper team again."

Left-arm seamer Sidebottom claimed two further wickets this morning and despite a defiant 85 from wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, England wrapped up their triumph in just 19.3 overs.

It took Sidebottom's tally in the last two Tests to 16 wickets and Vaughan, who used to play alongside him for Yorkshire, admitted: "I think we've all been surprised by him.

"His pace is very impressive, his control is exactly what you'd want and I think he's got a really good cricket brain as well. When you put those into a package as a bowler you get a decent finish.

Rewards

"I guess he's getting all the rewards now for all the hard work he's put in over the years and hopefully that will continue for a long, long while and he can have a really good, sustained international career.

"He's only played 12 Tests and he's our most experienced bowler. I guess it proves that bowling all those overs in the county game, really knowing his game before he played at international level can help."

Vaughan added: "A week in cricket is a long time as it's just shown. What we tried to do in this match was respect the game, play as well as we can and come out with a victory and we'll do exactly the same over the next week.

"It sets the series up brilliantly now. It's 1-1, I keep getting told it's going to be a flat wicket (at Napier) but five days is a long time and you can make things happen.

"We hope to play an even better game than we've done here because there are areas we need to work on and improve and if we do that I'm sure we can put New Zealand under more pressure."

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes the defining moment of the Test was the 164-run stand between Tim Ambrose and Paul Collingwood after England had slumped to 136 for five on the first day, which allowed them to reach a competitive first innings total of 342.

"It's a very disappointed dressing room," conceded Vettori. "If we reflect back on the Test match it was a pretty even one apart from the third session on the first day when we let Tim Ambrose get away through some poor bowling and feeding his strengths.

"If you follow the rest of it, it was a pretty even contest the rest of the way and because of that we left ourselves too much on the final day."

He also believes England's team changes - recalling Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to replace the dropped Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison - freshened up the tourists' approach and gave them the impetus to bounce back.

"You have to look at the way Anderson bowled on the first day. He set up that first innings and us being bowled out for 198 was purely down to him and the way he bowled," added Vettori.

"He hit the right lengths early on and did a really good job. I suggest Hoggard would have done a similar job, but to have fresh legs come in and do some very good work can only lift the team - new players coming in bring a new enthusiasm and that's what those two players did."

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