T20 Tri-Series: New Zealand Thump England by 12 Runs in Wellington

New Zealand won the fourth T20I match against England of the Trans-Tasman Tri series by 12 runs and have kept their hopes of qualifying for the finals alive.

It was also the first match of the New Zealand leg of the series. England had now lost three T20 internationals in a row. The Three Lions won the toss and chose to field first at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

New Zealand started well, as their openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro were involved in a solid opening wicket partnership. However, Munro was removed on 11 by Mark Wood.

Next batsman in was the Kiwi captain Kane Williamson who was involved in an 82 runs partnership with Guptill.

Both Guptill and Williamson took the attack to the English bowlers. Guptill scored 65 off 40 balls while Williamson played an uncharacteristic inning of 72 runs off just 46 balls.

New Zealand also had two debutants in their side with Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert. Chapman became the sixth cricketer to play international T20 for two different countries.

New Zealand finished their quota of 20 overs on 196/5. For England, Mark Wood had a poor day in the field, as he gave away 51 runs and picked up two wickets in his four overs. Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for England, as he picked up two wickets for 36 runs.

In reply, England started poorly, as their out of form batsmen Jason Roy failed once again and was dismissed on eight. Alex Hales and Dawid Malan were then involved in a 65-run partnership. Hales played a whirlwind innings of 47 runs in just 24 balls. His innings was studded with three sixes and six boundaries.

However, the run chase derailed, as the middle order collapsed with James Vince, Jos Buttler and Sam Billings fell in a matter of 34 runs.

All the hopes then laid on the shoulders of Malan who scored 59 off 40 balls. Malan was dismissed by Mitchell Santner, as he tried to accelerate the innings.

David Willey then scored 21 off ten balls, but couldn’t guide his team to victory, as they fell short by 12 runs and could only manage to score 184 in their 20 overs.

Here’s the news feed:

T20 Tri-series: Adil Rashid Believes Eoin Morgan Missing Out will be a Huge Blow for England

T20 Tri-Series: England is Hungry for Success – Jason Roy