England beat New Zealand by two runs in a thrilling end to the final league match in the Trans-Tasman T20I tri-series at Hamilton on Sunday.
After what was a crunch clash for both sides, we look at the key talking points.
MUNRO’S RAPID START
Colin Munro’s wicket was always going to be a big one for England when they came out to defend the target of 195. The New Zealand opener though, was in no mood to relent and took a toll on England’s bowlers from the very go. He smashed two sixes off David Willey in the first over before doing the same to Tom Curran in the next over. His first four scoring shots were all sixes with the fifth being a boundary. There would be three more sixes to follow as Munro raced away to an 18-ball 50 in the batting powerplay itself.
The long handle was out in full flow from Munro.
SPINNERS PULL ENGLAND BACK
After Munro had fired New Zealand away to an explosive start, England’s spinners did extremely well to put the brakes on their innings. Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson both bowled tight lines and gave nothing away as the pressure started to build on the hosts once more. The latter was extremely economical in that regard with his first three overs going for only nine runs
Rashid removed Munro and Dawson bowled Kane Williamson to throw the game wide open once again. The two spinners went for just 31 runs in seven overs between them to give England a glimmer of hope before the hosts upped the ante once again.
Rashid’s and Dawson’s spells were crucial in halting the Kiwi momentum.
ENGLAND WIN BUT FALL SHORT
Tom Curran and Chris Jordan did well to pull off a victory for England with some excellent death bowling in the final two overs. However, the cause had already been lost for Eoin Morgan’s men since the Kiwis needed only 175 to book their berth in the finals due to their superior run-rate.
The win however did break a run of four straight losses in the format for England so that will be some consolation. This win, coupled with the return of Ben Stokes, should give them some momentum going into the ODI series against the Blackcaps.
The win broke a streak of four losses for England.
