After losing the first two matches of the series New Zealand won the remaining two matches and made it equal. ENG scored 175/8 in 20 overs which NZ easily chased the target in 17.2 overs and scored 179/4 and won the match by 6 wickets. Both of them shared the trophy.
It’s a fantastic comeback by the Kiwi team. New Zealand won the 3rd T20 which was a role reversal performance by them.
England won the toss and they opted to bat first.
England got a blistering start and posted 105 runs in just 12 overs. Jonny Bairstow (73 runs) showing no mercy to the bowlers and hitting each and every bowler he faced. He hit 5 fours and 6 sixes in his innings.
After his departure England couldn’t get that good start to a brilliant finish. David Malan (26 runs) and Liam Livingstone (26 runs) unable to convert their innings to a big one. Rea,mining batters fail to provide big in the death overs. Therefore in 20 overs they posted 175 runs by losing 8 wickets.
Kiwi bowlers showed brilliant bowling in the death overs. Mitchell Santner grabbed 3 important wickets. Ish Sodhi got 2 wickets. Matt Henry and Rachin Ravindra got 1 wicket each.
NZ batters batted pretty well and also they got a solid start. New Zealand keeper batter, Tim Seifert (48 runs) batted brilliantly but missed his half-century by just 2 runs. He hit 6 fours and 2 sixes in his innings.
Glenn Phillips (42 runs) and Mark Chapman (40 runs) showed the destructiveness with their batting. Both of them took 25 balls to get there. Phillips hit 2 fours and 3 sixes while Chapman hit 5 fours and a six. Both of them showed the proper roadmap to victory. Finally they chased it down in 17.2 overs and by the loss of 4 wickets they scored 179 runs.
Rehan Ahmed got 2 wickets while Luke Wood got 1 wicket.
Mitchell Santner, New Zealand, Player of the Match
“We know the powerplay was the best time to bat. Ish bowled well and he was backed up by the seamers. The wickets (in this series) have been flat, they have played well, but nothing much has changed throughout the series.”
Jonny Bairstow, England, Player of the Series
“I’m fine. It’s one of those precautionary measures. It’s been a while since I have played white ball cricket, I don’t think I have timed the ball that well. I have played run a ball initially and accelerated later in the innings. That’s one of the biggest things I think. You need to catch up, you need to keep that on the back of the mind. You need to run hard and find the gaps to be honest. The ankle has been good, hope I continue to be alright as long as I can.”
Tim Southee, New Zealand Captain
“I think the side has known what we have been all about. We have played like we know to play in the last two games. England got off to a great start, but we kept picking wickets that kept us alive in the game. Our spinners bowled well and restricted them. We’ll travel and rest. A few new faces come into the one-day team, exciting times ahead.”
Moeen Ali, England Captain
“We just lost momentum , they bowled well, so obviously I’m disappointed. If we had batted well, we could have scored runs. But we couldn’t grab that momentum. We have good players. It’s all about winning. I thought Wood bowled really well in the powerplay, but disappointed it (the series) was 2-2 in the end.”