Rejuvenated England once again had the upper hand in the one-off T20 against New Zealand as they defeated the Kiwis by 56 runs at Old Trafford, Manchester.
English skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat first. The home side lost an early wicket in the form of Jason Roy (23) who was looking in a dangerous. After his dismissal the hosts were given a steady start by Alex Hales (27) and Joe Root (68). Root went to score 68 runs off just 46 deliveries, hitting 8 fours and 1 six and mainly due to his innings only England went on to impose a mammoth total of 191 before he was dismissed my Mitchell McClenaghan(2/37). Root was declared the man of the match. He was complemented by Sam Billings (21) and Ben Stokes (24), as both played a handy knock and scored quick runs to help England reach the 190 mark. Jonathan Bairstow, who was the hero of the last ODI match for England and captain Morgan were dismissed cheaply.
Talking of the bowling attack of the Kiwis, Mitchell Santner was the pick of their bowlers, getting 2 wickets. Santner was also the most economical one as most of the Kiwi bowlers leaked too many runs. Their decision to play Nathan McCullum as an extra spinning option backfired as he was the costliest, giving 46 runs in 4 overs without getting any wicket.
New Zealand lost Martin Guptill in the first over itself but Brendon McCullum and Kane Wlliamson gave the visitors a fiery start. Mccullum scored 35 runs, striking 4 sixes and 2 fours, before he was dismissed by Mark Wood. Williamson also accompanied his skipper in the same manner, reaching his half century in just 31 balls. He scored 57 runs before he was run out by David Willey. After his dismissal, the entire New Zealand batting order crumbled as they were bundled out for 135 in just 16.2 overs.
The English bowlers did a fine job as their pacers Willey and Wood scalped 3 wickets each while leg-spinner Adil Rashid got one and all-rounder Stokes managed two wickets.