New Zealand secured a convincing victory over England by six wickets on Tuesday, at Trent Bridge. Tim Seifert contributed with a solid 48 runs, while Glenn Phillips chipped in with 42, resulting in a 2-2 tie in the four-match Twenty20 International series.
In a sweltering evening in Nottingham, Jonny Bairstow of England displayed his explosive power in T20 internationals, notching up his fastest half-century with 73 runs. This remarkable performance drove England to set a target of 176 for New Zealand as they ended their innings at 175-8. However, the Black Caps made the battle appear one-sided, continually keeping the upper hand as they comfortably reached 179-4 with 2.4 overs to spare, with Mark Chapman contributing an unbroken 40.
England had initially gained victories in the first two matches, but New Zealand launched a powerful comeback, finally squaring the series.
Bairstow’s heroics saw him smash four sixes soaring into the crowd before England achieved their half-century in just 4.3 overs, with Bairstow himself hitting his half-century in 26 deliveries. The squad enjoyed a strong start, reaching 63-0 at the end of the powerplay on a wicket that benefited the batsmen. However, they had a blow when opener Will Jacks (16) was caught by wicket-keeper Seifert off the bowling of Ish Sodhi, two runs later.
Bairstow continued to dominate, slamming his sixth six of the evening and bringing England to 105-1 before being caught by Daryl Mitchell off Mitch Santner after a brilliant 73 off 41 balls. Dawid Malan kept the scoreboard ticking with three quick fours, and England reached 126-3 before Harry Brook lofted one high, only to be caught by Mark Chapman, handing Sodhi his second wicket.
With England’s white-ball skipper Jos Buttler officially rested for the game, New Zealand capitalized on the opportunity, collecting four wickets for 35 runs. Left-arm spinner Santner sparkled with outstanding numbers of 3-30.
Santner’s impressive stint continued as he had Malan (26) caught by a diving Kyle Jamieson and Ali caught by Phillips for just one run. Tom Curran (5) was caught by Finn Allen off Rachin Ravindra, and England found themselves at 150-6. The penultimate over saw Ahmed (11) run out on his home debut, while Liam Livingston (26) was caught on the very last ball.
The two nations will face again in Cardiff on Friday, marking the start of a series of four one-day internationals, with the World Cup in India looming just a month away.
