England Edge New Zealand In A Deja Vu Thriller
Published - 10 Nov 2019, 02:43 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:02 AM
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It had to come down to this. Given their recent history, a super over in an encounter between New Zealand and England had to be the point where the match gets decided. England took the honours yet again. But unlike the final at Lord’s, they didn’t have to depend upon the boundary count rule to get past the Kiwis.
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Despite a rain-curtailed game, Eden Park in Auckland prepped itself to serve another thriller. After a lengthy delay, the toss took place in which England elected to field first. England made three changes for the decider, having brought in James Vince, Saqib Mahmood, and Adil Rashid for Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, and Pat Brown.
The hosts also made a couple of changes bringing in Jimmy Neesham and Scott Kuggeleijn for Daryl Mitchell and Blair Tickner. The match began with another two-hour delay post the toss. The number of overs were reduced to 11 overs per side. The short boundaries at Eden Park meant that despite a shortened match, one could predict a high-scoring thriller.
Martin Guptill and Colin Munro went after the English bowlers straight away. The home side stormed to 83 in five overs with Guptill bringing his half-century in just 17 balls. Despite a two-wicket burst in the next two overs, the Kiwis were ticking along in a flash. Tim Seifert shared two brisk partnerships with Colin Munro and James Neesham to push their side past the 140-mark.
Seifert lost his wicket in the third last ball of the final over, crunching five sixes in his 16-ball 39. The hosts set a target of 147 for their opponents, striking at nearly 13 and a half per over. For England, Tom Curran and Sam Curran ended up with a wicket each, giving away 30 and 33 runs respectively in their two overs. Adil Rashid and Saqib Mahmood contributed a wicket each as well to the cause.
The scorecard in detail of New Zealand innings:
In reply, England didn’t have the perfect start. However, Jonny Bairstow, along with Sam Curran, launched an onslaught to put the three lions on the course. The tourists kept losing wickets in clusters but still had hit enough boundaries to preserve the victory in sights if the boundary count rule were to apply. Chris Jordan was the man for England tonight to do the job with both bat and ball.
Eoin Morgan & Co needed 16 off the last over with James Neesham being handed the responsibility to defend the score. The first three balls boded perfectly well for New Zealand, having conceded three runs for a wicket. The fourth ball was where England’s fortunes turned around from where Jordan collected 12 runs off three deliveries to set up a super over.
The scorecard of the England innings:
Captain Tim Southee called upon himself to bowl the super over. The opposing skipper Eoin Morgan slammed a six in the second ball over long-on to get them going. Another six in the fourth ball of and three more runs to follow in the final two deliveries set New Zealand a target of 17 to square the super over bout against England.
Chris Jordan bowled just the one boundary ball that went for a four over the infield on the off-side. Irishman Eoin Morgan sent Seifert back to the pavilion by pulling off a remarkable catch at extra cover. Jordan bowled two more full deliveries that the batsmen couldn’t do too much with. New Zealand ended up eight runs short in a gripping encounter.
Man of the match Jonny Bairstow admitted the experience in the T10 games enabled him to craft the chase perfectly. Mitchell Santner received the player of the series for his consistent bowling and having broken crucial partnerships whenever needed. The left-arm bowler finished the series with 11 wickets.
