England won by 76 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Dawid Malan
Batter
Bowler
Viewer discretion advised: Don't look directly at the New Zealand bowling card without parental guidance, or, you know, an air sickness bag next to you. They were absolutely taken to the cleaners, and the short square boundaries played completely to (New) England's strengths. Loads to look forward to on Sunday, the deciding T20I, or the metaphorical super-over if you will. It's been a pleasure bringing you the coverage as we sign off - Akshay Maanay, Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Siva, and yours truly, Rishi Roy. Here's to a humdinger of a decider on Sunday. Minus the boundary count. *Curtains down*
Eoin Morgan | England captain: Thought it was a clinical performance. That we had to win tonight to keep the series alive. Seeing young guys come through today, particularly with the ball, was very impressive. Malan scoring a hundred coming in today is absolutely brilliant. To see a guy come into the team and make use of the chance is exactly what you want to see. Bench strength and depth in our squad seems extremely strong. Dawid and I played for a long time together at Middlesex, and know each other's game pretty well. Everything was calm there, we managed to laugh it out. It was a beautiful wicket. I think we have to get better and better, and the Blackcaps have also done the same, but Sunday lines up to be an epic game.
Tim Southee | New Zealand captain: The guys will move on from it, and we have a chance in two days to win the series. I think it's more about learning from the experience being put under pressure. Wickets were the only way to slow them down. We got a nice start, but they started getting wickets, and that tends to stem the run-flow as well. I hope there's no boundary count, but we'll get to Auckland and think about that.
Dawid Malan | MoM: I'd say international hundreds don't come around often, so it's special. To do it at such a crucial time is pleasing. Morgan started whacking it, and I just tagged along - that's when I thought we'd get a good total. The boundaries were so small so I thought I'd give it a go after I got to 80. The intent that Morgan showed was amazing, and he took the pressure off me and I think it's great to have a leader like that, who allows you to play that way. We made silly mistakes along the way and the way we won this has been very pleasing. We're happy that this performance came at such a crucial time.
21:13 Local Time: Just a glimpse, of the England brand of cricket. Short square boundaries is what they encashed throughout the World Cup, and that's where they've trumped the Kiwis again today. A breathtaking, scarcely believable exhibition of batting by England, followed by an understandably reckless approach by New Zealand, who maintained a decent rate throughout the innings, but ended up losing far too many wickets, and lacked partnerships. In the end, the hosts have collectively fallen short of M&M by 29 runs, courtesy some excellent bowling by the Englishmen - particularly Parkinson, despite very little support from his teammates. Presentations coming up in a moment...
Jordan to Boult, out Bowled! 2-2 it is! Stays low from a good length, Boult plays the ugliest of all his flogs as it crashes into the stumps. Death rattle for Boult, and New Zealand have been outplayed, outclassed today. Boult b Jordan 8(8) [4s-1]
Jordan to Boult, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
Jordan to Boult, FOUR, slower good length ball on middle, Boult gets the front-leg out of the way and has a swat at it, gets a top-edge just over the 'keeper to the long stop fence for four!
Jordan to Tickner, 1 run, fuller length delivery on off, driven to Morgan at cover, who throws at the non-striker's ends - Jordan collects and breaks the stumps, but Tickner is in
Jordan to Tickner, no run, another one, 135.9km/h on off-stump, good length ball, Tickner tries whipping it over the on-side, misses it completely once again
Jordan to Tickner, no run, short of length delivery wide outside off, Tickner has a go at the drive, misses it completely. Took the pace off, did Jordan...
Chris Jordan [2.0-0-19-1] is back into the attack
END OF OVER 16
6 Runs
NZ: 160 - 9
W 1 1 1 2 1
Blair Tickner
4 (3)
Trent Boult
4 (6)
Sam Curran
4-0-36-1
Sam Curran to Tickner, 1 run, low full-toss, clipped away towards deep midwicket for a single
Sam Curran to Tickner, 2 runs, another yorker length delivery on the boots, dug out towards midwicket for a rather sharp brace
Sam Curran to Boult, 1 run, angled across, Boult backs away into the off-side, slices, and it's fallen in the cover region between three fielders! No way!
Sam Curran to Tickner, 1 run, yorker length delivery on off-stump, squeezed out wide of mid-on for a single
Sam Curran to Boult, 1 run, short of length delivery outside off, dragged down to long-on for a single
Blair Tickner, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Sam Curran to Boult, out Ish Sodhi Run Out! Clubs the full-toss, screams "NOOOOO!" to Sodhi as mid-off collects, and that's a direct-hit by Jordan at the non-striker's end! Sodhi puts the dive in but comfortably short on the slow-motion camera. Nine down, one to go. Ish Sodhi run out (Jordan) 9(7) [6s-1]
Sam Curran to Boult, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!