England’s top order worries are not over yet, but New Zealand’s jittery batsmen did not put enough on the board to seriously test the surprisingly unchanged batting line-up of the defending champion.
Needing 149 for a win in its second Super Eights game of the ICC World T20 tournament here, England chased it down with six wickets to spare, keeping alive hopes of making it to the semifinals.
England had earlier lost to West Indies in its first game and will take on Sri Lanka on October 1.
Man-of-the-match Luke Wright (76, 43b, 5x4, 5x6) anchored the English innings after a watchful Craig Kieswetter’s momentary lapse of concentration saw him charging Daniel Vettori and miss the ball completely. Kieswetter managed four runs from 14 balls before Vettori foxed him.
Three overs later, his opening partner Alex Hales (22, 15b, 3x4) joined him in the pavilion trying to force the pace and missing a Nathan McCullum delivery completely.
Brilliant catch
Eion Morgan (30 runs, 31b, 1x4, 1x6) and Wright put on 89 in 10 overs for the third wicket to steer England to safety. Just when it looked like the pair would guide their team to victory, a gravity-defying catch by Bracewell sent back Morgan. Morgan had lifted Kyle Mills wide of long-on, but Bracewell made a lot of ground and dived to hold the catch.
Wright went soon after driving Bracewell right into the hands of the cover fielder. In general, New Zealand’s fielding was outstanding, while the English fielding could do well with a generous dose of application.
Lowest total
Earlier electing to bat on a dry pitch, New Zealand put up the lowest total in Pallekele, possibly due to the fact that it’s a crunch game. Martin Guptill failed for once. He missed a yorker-length delivery from Finn and was caught plumb in front.
Brendon McCullum, the No. 1 batsman in the ICC ratings who took Guptill’s place, appeared to be in a hurry. McCullum, who has 11 scores of 50 or more, swung wildly at a shortish Finn delivery and was beaten for pace.
The next ball, again, he took on Finn. This time the ball took the edge and flew to Wright, waiting at third man.
New Zealand was two down for 20 in less than four overs. Then, it was the quiet Nicol’s turn to play into the hands of England. He chanced his arms against Swann and saw the ball take the edge and fly to the deep square leg fielder. Bairstow made no mistake.
The fall of wickets impeded the scoring so much that the team’s 50 came off 54 deliveries — one of the slowest in the tournament. A Franklin blitz, and his 40-run partnership with a subdued Ross Taylor (22) made sure that the 100 came up quicker, in 93 balls.
For New Zealand, Jacob Oram’s illness paved the way for Doug Bracewell while England made two changes from the team that played against West Indies. Tim Bresnan and Danny Briggs came in place of Samit Patel and Jade Dernbach.
