England 302 (45.2 overs)
New Zealand 306-7 (49 overs)
With a fresh approach to the game comes the odd setback here and there along the way. England's cricketers slumped to a second successive ODI defeat against New Zealand at Southampton yesterday by 3 wickets, caused at least partly by their failure to bat out their full 50 overs, the cardinal sin in limited overs Cricket. New Zealand's batsmen recorded a record wicket partnership of 206 runs against their opponents to pace themselves to victory, aided by dropped catches in the field. The Kiwis now lead 2-1 in the series.
Early problems
Batting first at the Ageas Bowl, England's openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy had made a solid if unspectacular start when both batsmen fell in quick succession. Hales (23) was first to go, Ben Wheeler prompting him to offer a catch to Tim Southee. Roy (9) was then bowled by Southee to leave the hosts suddenly struggling on 34-2.
Rebuilding phase
Joe Root and Eoin Morgan rebuilt the innings and moved things along with a steady century partnership. Root had passed his own half-century, when he allowed a delivery from the promising young left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner to slip through his defences and bowl him.
Ben Stokes joined Morgan in a half-century stand before Morgan (71) became Kane Williamson's victim, but the home team had developed a decent position by then at 194-4.
Acceleration then collapse
After Jos Buttler's brief knock of 13 had been ended, Sam Billings and Stokes pushed the scoring along with a bright and breezy 61 runs for the sixth wicket. Billings 34 from just 16 balls had included a flurry of boundaries but when he departed, providing Wheeler with the second of his three wickets on the day, England collapsed from 288-6 to 302 all out.
Stokes (68) was the only notable scorer from the later order batsmen. Worse still, they left almost five overs unused which in the final anlysis probably caused their undoing in terms of the result. They lost five wickets in just 23 deliveries, as their ultra-aggressive approach was exposed for once.
Hope for England The 'Black Caps' made a poor start in response, the early wickets of Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum gave England hope at 36-2. But then came the match-defining partnership, as the experienced Williamson and Ross Taylor set up the New Zealand reply perfectly. Record partnership Both men made superb centuries to change the course of the match, as they added that record stand of 206 runs for the third wicket. Williamson (118) was eventually dismissed, but by then the Kiwis were well within striking distance of their target. Taylor had been dropped twice though, by Buttler on 67 and then again by Stokes on 72. Williamson also offered a chance to Mark Wood, but only once he had reached three figures. Late hope England's fans sensed belated hope when late wickets tumbled, including Taylor for 110 to provide David Willey with his final wicket in a 3-69 haul. But Wheeler and Southee saw the visitors over the line with an over to spare. Teething problems are to be expected with England's more adventurous approach but they will surely need to ensure that they bat their full allotment of overs out in future. An extra twenty runs could have made all the difference to the result. Perhaps it was merely a reflection of knowing when to push the accelerator and when to accumulate but protect the wickets. England fans will surely hope that their side learns the lessons quickly. |