England came out on top in a tense finish at Eden Park in Hamilton but it was New Zealand who booked their place in the final of the Trans-Tasman T20I tri-series.
Here, we look at the good and bad from England’s two-run win.
THE GOOD
MORGAN PLAYS A CAPTAIN’S HAND
The England skipper’s return to action after injury was a seamless one as he smashed six sixes and four boundaries in an unbeaten 46-ball 80. The left-hander let loose in the final four overs after a 27-ball period where no boundaries came for England. That they managed to make 194 was all down to Morgan’s brilliance in the end.
CURRAN’S BRILLIANT FINAL OVER WINS IT
Tom Curran had 12 runs to defend in the final over to salvage England’s first victory in the series. He made excellent use of the wide full toss to stifle Mark Chapman and Colin de Grandhomme. He gave away the one boundary but brought down the equation to four needed off the last ball where another fuller delivery did the job.
THE BAD
WILLIAMSON’S SCRATCHY INNINGS
The New Zealand skipper let all the momentum generated by Colin Munro slip away as put together a scratchy knock of eight runs before being bowled by Liam Dawson. He played a dot ball too many as the pressure built on the batsmen to follow. The Blackcaps skipper’s place in the T20 squad has already been called into question and this innings will only further heighten the pressure.
SANTNER’S OFF DAY
The No1 ranked T20I bowler in the world was carted for 32 runs off just two overs before being taken out of the bowling attack. Asked to share the new ball duties for the hosts, Santner leaked boundaries as Jason Roy and Dawid Malan took a liking to his slower pace.