Chester Le Street (England), June 08: Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was left thinking of what might have been after his team suffered their ninth successive Test defeat at the Riverside here. England defeated the Africans by an innings and 69 runs yesterday to take the two-match series 2-0. Just as in their first Test victory at Lord's last month - where they beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 92 runs - England wrapped up the match inside three days.

But the Riverside encounter might have turned out differently had Zimbabwe not dropped England's top scorers Anthony Mcgrath (81) and Alec Stewart (68) when Nasser Hussain's men were well short of their match-winning total of 416.

"When England were 150 for five or so we dropped two catches, Stewart and Mcgrath. It might have been a different story," said fast bowler Streak.

"It's always hard to bounce back from defeats. No team likes to be beaten."

But Streak, 29, did not shy away from his team's shortcomings.

"Our top order has been disappointing throughout the series and our bowlers have been ill-disciplined.

"Raymond Price (left-arm spinner) was our best bowler in terms of creating pressure.

"We had bowling discipline for short spells. England, whose bowlers come through a system where they learn to pitch the ball up, had it throughout," Streak explained.

Bureau Report