England seal win despite rain

England defied the Headingley drizzle on day five to add the finishing touches to a 2-0 series whitewash over New Zealand with a 247-run victory.

New Zealand started a rain-affected final day on 158 for six, leaving England four wickets short of outright success, and eventually subsided for 220 in a belated afternoon session.

James Anderson took the final wicket with his third ball of the day - a 307th Test scalp that takes him level with Fred Trueman and joint third on England's all-time list.

Graeme Swann was also crucial, taking two wickets to finish with six for 90 in the innings and career-best match figures of 10 for 132.

All the talk overnight surrounded the possibility of a rain-affected draw - with knives being sharpened for Alastair Cook's conservative captaincy.

But England's decision to place their faith in the British weather paid off despite losing much of the scheduled play.

Swann had never taken a Test wicket at Headingley before and even found himself left out when South Africa visited last summer.

But he proved definitively that his recent elbow operation has been a success.

The seam attack of Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Anderson also chipped in with a wicket each to end a match that, for all the talk of negative decision-making, has also seen Joe Root score his maiden Test century and Cook register his 25th.