England declare at 468-6 after Thorpe double century

Graham Thorpe stroked the third fastest double century in history today and shared a record 281-run stand with Andrew Flintoff (137) as England set New Zealand a target of 550 runs to win the first test in Christchurch.

Thorpe reached an unbeaten 200 off 231 balls before skipper Nasser Hussain declared the England second innings at 468 for six, leaving New Zealand a minimum of 206 overs to secure an unlikely win.

His first double century in test cricket ranks third fastest behind Australian Adam Gilchrist's 212-ball effort against South Africa at Johannesburg last month and Ian Botham's 220-ball knock against India at the Oval in the summer of 1982.

Thorpe made the most of his chances, recovering his concentration after being dropped when on two at second slip, one of two fielding mishaps by Nathan Astle before lunch.

England are favourites to take a 1-0 lead in the three-test series after skittling New Zealand out for 147, in reply to England's first innings of 228, with Matthew Hoggard taking a career-best seven wickets for 63.

Openers Mark Richardson, 20 not out, and Matt Horne, on three, survived 10 overs to take New Zealand to 28 without loss before dark shadows across the field stopped play 11 overs before the scheduled stumps.

"It was very satisfying," Thorpe said. "I dedicate a 100 each to my two children It was a challenging situation, at one stage we were in one-day mood as the runs kept coming. Flintoff is a strong boy and hitting the ball hard is his greatest strength."

Both batsmen agreed England will have to stay patient to dismiss New Zealand a second time with the pitch becoming friendlier to the batsmen..

"The game is still not over yet," he said.

After 22 wickets fell on the first two days of the series opener, the third day produced a run feast with England scoring 405 of the 433 runs posted in three sessions.

Thorpe and Flintoff, with his maiden test century, lifted England out of trouble at 106 for five and tormented the New Zealand attack for almost four hours to break a 30-year-old record for a sixth-wicket partnership.

Flintoff bludgeoned 23 fours and three sixes off 163 balls to overshadow the presence of the 71-test veteran Thorpe early in the partnership.

Playing in only his 13th test, the burly right-hander had made three ducks in his last three visits to the crease.

"It has been long time coming," Flintoff said. "I went in with a positive attitude and Thorpy kept encouraging me. It is only the starting point ... hitting the middle off the first few balls I faced helped me a lot."

After Flintoff fell to a tired shot, Thorpe tormented the Kiwi bowling attack, which was without an injured Chris Cairns.

Finding a willing partner in James Foster, 22 not out, Thorpe ensured New Zealand were set the biggest victory target in 26 years. India successfully chased 402 to beat the West Indies in the West Indies in 1975-76, still a record for a team batting fourth.

With England looking shaky at 106-5 and a lead of only 187 runs, Flintoff blasted a six and five fours in the space of 10 balls to make his intentions clear.

The stand between Flintoff and Thorpe surpassed the sixth wicket record against New Zealand of 254 between the West Indies pair of Charlie Davis and Gary Sobers at Bridgetown in 1971/72.

Swing bowlers Chris Drum (2-130) and Butler (3-137) had put some doubts in the England batting by removing the overnight pair of skipper Nasser Hussain (11) and Mark Butcher (34) in the space of four balls and then Mark Ramprakash for 11.

Hussain came unstuck trying to steer Drum through the slips but only succeeding in edging to wicketkeeper Adam Parore for 11.

Butcher fell in freakish circumstances when he played a conventional flick off Butler to long leg but slipped and hit his wicket as he set off for the run.