Cricket: Vaughan praises resilient England; Captains unite to hail key man Ryan.

MICHAEL VAUGHAN praised England's character after they completed an impressive turnaround to claim a 121-run victory in the final Test against New Zealand and seal their first overseas series triumph in three years.

The England captain singled out his side's resilience to come from behind after losing the first Test in Hamilton to secure the series shortly after lunch on the final day at McLean Park.

Resuming on 222 for five needing an unlikely 331 for victory, New Zealand were finally dismissed for 431, with Monty Panesar claiming a Test-best six for 126, but only after 19-year-old debutant Tim Southee had hit a whirlwind half-century.

Southee hammered nine sixes and four fours to finish unbeaten on 77 off 40 balls having reached his half-century off only 29 balls - the seventh fastest 50 in Test history and the quickest ever by a New Zealand player.

But for all Southee's efforts, England sealed the victory with man of the series Ryan Sidebottom claiming the final wicket.

It was England's first victory after coming from behind in a three-match series since Sri Lanka seven years ago, and their first series win overseas since beating South Africa in 2004-05.

"It's been a really hard-fought series and we've had to show an immense amount of character to come back from being 1-0 down," he said.

"A lot of the individual players have had to show a lot of strength and character as well.

"The one thing you do need at this level is character, so that's been very impressive, but there are areas we need to improve and as the games have gone on we have improved each time.

"But we have to improve again at Lord's and the game after if we want to really set our sights on being on top of the world, which is a long way off at the moment."

Vaughan stressed: "There is still work to be done, but people should not under-estimate what we've achieved here.

"We were 1-0 down, we haven't won a series for a long while, and we've fought very hard and beaten a New Zealand team which is quite difficult to beat at home."

Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Sidebottom claimed the man-of-the-match and man-of-the series awards after finishing with a staggering 24 wickets in the series to take his tally since being recalled last summer to 53 wickets in just 12 Tests.

"He's just a good old, honest pro. He does his work. he does his bowling and just gets on with it," said Vaughan.

"He swings the ball, puts the ball in the right area and bowls at a decent pace and they are quite good attributes to become a good bowler.

"He's obviously got the angles by being a left-armer of over and round the wicket, which is a huge advantage, and he's just bowling well.

"He's come a long way in a year and he's leading the attack well. He bowls that first over and very rarely is off the mark.

"You like to have a few sighters as a batsman - a couple of freebies - and Ryan Sidebottom never, ever gives them that easy first over, which is important."

Disappointed New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori also singled out Sidebottom as being the key factor in England's triumph after his side failed to take opportunities which fell to them in the final two Tests. "You have to sit back and admire the way Sidebottom bowled throughout the series," admitted Vettori.

"He was the difference between two teams and every time they needed a lift he came in and gave it to them.

"Every time they needed a couple of wickets he came in and gave it to them.

"It was an extremely competitive Test series the whole way through, but England grabbed vital chances in the second and third Test matches."

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ALL OVER: England player rush to congratulate Ryan Sidebottom after he took the final wicket last night; STARS: Sidebottom and Monty Panesar