England's Alastair Cook asks to be judged on the results against New Zealand

Alastair Cook is critical of the criticsm he is receiving for his strategy even though England handed New Zealand another defeat in the Second Test.

England's Ian Bell is mobbed by teammates Stuart Broad, left, Alastair Cook Graeme Swann, second from the right, and Joe Root after England's victory in the Second Test against New Zealand. Afterward,Show more

England 1st innings 354
New Zealand 1st innings 174
England 2nd innings 287-5

New Zealand 2nd innings

McCullum c & b Broad 1

Southee c Trott b Swann 38

Bracewell c Bell b Swann 19

Wagner not out 0

Boult c Prior b Anderson 0

Extras 1w, 2b, 11lb 14

Total (all out, 76.3 overs) 220

Fall of wickets: 7-162, 8-218, 9-220, 10-220;

Bowling: Anderson 11.3-4-28-1; Broad 11-3-26-2; Swann 32-12-90-6; Finn 19-5-62-1; Root 3-2-1-0;

England wwin by 247 runs.

LEEDS // Alastair Cook brushed aside criticism of England's tactics during the second Test against New Zealand, vindicated by a 247-run victory at Headingley.

A variety of decisions - from not enforcing the follow-on, to taking time out of the game by setting an unreasonably large winning target of 468 - caused debate overnight due to the possibility of rain on the final day.

As it was, there were two long delays that occupied almost three hours of playing time, but England still managed to bowl out the tourists for 220, collecting the final four wickets in 21.5 overs on Tuesday.

"I think the result vindicates the decisions," he said. "There is no doubt about that at all.

"It is very easy when you are sitting behind the rope to say 'I would have pulled out with 350 on the board'. It is easy to say when you are not making the decision and you are not responsible for it.

"You are judged as a captain on results. In this game we have won by 250 runs.

"You woke up this morning and first thing you do is look out the window. I wouldn't say it was a sleepless night, but we were praying for an opportunity to get enough time to go out there and win the game.

"To win by nearly 250 runs is a good win, and in just effectively over three days of cricket.

"We were 1-0 up in the series and we did not want to give them a sniff in the series, because wins don't come round very easily or very often."

The hosts will take plenty of positives: Joe Root scored his first Test century at his home ground, Cook became the first England batsman in history to score 25 of them and there were career-best match figures of 10 for 132 for Graeme Swann.

The notable exception was Nick Compton, who fell for seven and one and looked entirely bereft of confidence.

He now faces a nervous wait to see if he will part of England's Ashes campaign in July.

Should Kevin Pietersen return to fitness on schedule, England have the option to use Root as an opener and retain Jonny Bairstow instead of Compton.

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