England [241/3] defeat New Zealand [165] by 76 runs to win 4th T20I

[sweep_shot]

New Zealand have bounced back from their opening defeat to win the last two matches against England. Another on Friday, 8 November, will seal the series in Napier.

England began the series on a strong note in Christchurch, thumping the hosts by seven wickets with an over-and-a-half to spare. They have since suffered two defeats and need to win the next game to keep the series alive.

England's batting, the middle order in particular, has appeared a bit iffy in each of those last two contests. Sam Billings and Sam Curran have endured failures at Nos.5 and 6 in both those games.

By stark contrast, New Zealand's middle order has looked very dangerous. Ross Taylor and James Neesham have enjoyed sizeable returns. But the biggest positive for New Zealand has been the form of Colin de Grandhomme at No.4. He has racked up 102 runs in the series while striking at 167.21, which has enabled New Zealand to post defendable totals.

As for the bowling, Saqib Mahmood and Pat Brown have been expensive for England, and the visitors will strongly consider bringing back Chris Jordan for the fourth game, after he was rested in Nelson. New Zealand's fast bowlers have been quite good for the most part and will be bolstered by the return of Trent Boult, who was absent for the first three games.

At 139/2, England seemed to be going great guns in their chase of 181, but the loss of the next five wickets for just ten runs completely derailed their efforts. The New Zealand pacers were absolutely outstanding.

Blair Tickner, playing only his second match, was outstanding, dismissing the well-set James Vince for 49 at a critical juncture, after which England struggled to find rhythm. Both Tickner and Ferguson finished with 2/25 from their four overs. De Grandhomme was instrumental in setting up the score, smacking 55 off 35 balls, and was named the Player of the Match.

Colin de Grandhomme, New Zealand all-rounder: "Definitely you can't give them an inch. You've got to keep hitting them hard and try and win every game when you can. They're pretty good lads and they're a good team, so it's always nice beating them, but we've got to move on from that."

Eoin Morgan, England captain: "It is the most inexperienced side that we will field. We can't come out expecting to win 5-0, we do need to learn and make mistakes throughout the whole series."

Conditions

The weather is expected to be warm and sunny. The pitch at McLean Park is generally a great one for batting.

Source: https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1486597.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

Nz won the toss and elected to field

 

[Muhammad Saad]

New Zealand Squad: Playing XI:Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Blair Tickner

England Squad: Playing XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Tom Banton, Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings (wk), Sam Curran, Lewis Gregory, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Patrick Brown, Matthew Parkinson


New Zealand won the toss and opt to bowl

 

[Muhammad Saad]

16/1 after 3.1 Santner takes the first wicket.

 

[Danyaalr01]

Whoever decided that the pitch should be in the direction of the sun should be sent to jail.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

30/1 after 4.5 overs

 

[DeadBall]

I think if NZ win today and thus the series then even if Aus beat us we will still retain the number 1 ranking.

 

[DeadBall]

It looks like playing with Babar in the T20 Blast has done Banton a world of good.

 

[Danyaalr01]

I think if NZ win today and thus the series then even if Aus beat us we will still retain the number 1 ranking.

If Australia beat us today then they will be just 1 point behind us. If the first game wasn't called off and Australia beat us in Perth then we would've lost our Number 1 spot to Australia.

 

[DeadBall]

If Australia beat us today then they will be just 1 point behind us. If the first game wasn't called off and Australia beat us in Perth then we would've lost our Number 1 spot to Australia.

Yeah, if Eng win the series against NZ they will jump to the numero uno spot, i,e if we lose.

 

[DeadBall]

Eng crushing it atm, not many batsmen to come after this though.

 

[DeadBall]

Malan finally doing more than pretty 20s and 30s. Eng batting/reserve lineup looking more and more formidable.

 

[MenInG]

Eng 149/2 (14.0) crr: 10.64

 

[DeadBall]

This is carnage.

 

[Sanzcool]

Raining sixes, Morgan and Malan demolishing NZ to pieces

 

[MenInG]

ENG 223/2 (18.4) CRR: 11.95
New Zealand opt to bowl

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

NZ not holding back!

ENG 241/3 (20.0)
NZ 24/0 (2.2) CRR: 10.29 REQ: 12.34
New Zealand need 218 runs

 

[MenInG]

ENG 241/3 (20.0)
NZ 60/2 (5.5) CRR: 10.29 REQ: 12.85
New Zealand need 182 runs in 85 balls

Setback now but still in the game NZ.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Excellent LOI spinner is Parkinson.

 

[MenInG]

ENG 241/3 (20.0)
NZ 165-all out (16.5) CRR: 9.8
England won by 76 runs

 

[MenInG]

 

[Ag78]

I watched the highlights. Good hitting by Malan and Morgan.

 

[Kroll]

Such a contrast with Pak's meek batting! Misbah would be so proud of 241 in a 50 over match.

 

[omairsiddiqui]

THIS is a T20 game. Not the abomination we saw in Perth.