Wellington:New Zealand defeated England by 21 runs to level five-match T20 series at 1-1, here at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
Riding on right-hand batsman Martin Guptill’s 41 off 28 balls and all-rounder James Neesham’s 42 off 22 balls, the home side scored 176 in stipulated 20 overs before bowling England out for 155 runs in 19.5 overs.
Earlier in the day, England won the toss and put the host to bat first. Guptill and Colin Munro who came to open the innings put 23 runs on scoreboard for the opening stand in 2.4 overs. But soon Munro was trapped by left-arm bowler Sam Curran for just seven runs. Munro was succeded by wicket-keeper Tim Seifert who added 34 runs for the second wicket. He was caught by Sam Billings off Saqib Mahmood for 16 runs in the seventh over. At one point in time, Kiwis were 96-3 in 10 overs, eyeing a big total, however, Colin de Grandhomme (28), Ross Taylor (28) and Mitchell (5) were unable to play big innings. Skipper Tim Southe (4) and Neesham stitched together a crucial 25 runs off 11 balls for the eight wicket, helping the host score 176 runs in 20 overs. Chris Jordan was the most successful England bowler, returning with the figure of 3/23 in four overs, while Curran took 2/22 in his four over quota. In reply, the visitors got off to a bad start as Southee and his new-ball partner right-arm pacer Lockie Ferguson ripped through the England top order to leave them at 3/2 in the second over.
English team captain Eion Morgan and Dawid Malan stitched together a 37 runs partnership for the third wicket. The third match of the series will be played at Nelson on Tuesday, November 5. (UNI)
