Match report
I’ll sign off there, with a report from Emma John heading this way soon. Thanks for following!
Interesting from Kumar Sangakkara, suggesting that Brook could’ve been a bit more patient and let Buttler smash from the other end. That was very much the partnership if England were going to do something special. Anyway, I’m not sure how much we’ve learnt from that game; just seems like New Zealand had a great day, England a bad one. Off we go to Trent Bridge to wrap up this series.
Finn Allen is Player of the Match for his 83 at the top of the order. Four fours and six sixes in that cracking knock.
New Zealand win by 74 runs
Rashid falls to Southee and that’ll be that. We’re still waiting for a close game this series, but at least New Zealand have finally shown up today. Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips excelled with the bat before everybody had a grand time with the ball: three wickets apiece for Ish Sodhi and Kyle Jamieson, two for Tim Southee and joy for Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry as well. England, well, they probably just want to forget about this and move on to the next one.
18th over: England 125-9 (Atkinson 7, Rashid 6) Rashid and Atkinson cloth the ball into the leg side, but no-one’s around to take a catch and give Jamieson a fourth.
17th over: England 118-9 (Atkinson 4, Rashid 2) Henry races through his final over to finish with tidy figures of 1-21. Just 85 needed from 18; nudge and nurdle this over then go big in the last two I reckon.
16th over: England 115-9 (Atkinson 2, Rashid 1) Three wickets for Jamieson, and he’s still got an over to go. England need 88 from 24 balls (just imagine!).
WICKET! Moeen c Mitchell b Jamieson 26 (England 113-9)
Gus Atkinson drags, via various deflections, his first ball in international cricket onto the stumps, except the bails don’t come off. Moeen, going for another big shot, gives Mitchell his second catch of the over.
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WICKET! Wood c Mitchell b Jamieson 3 (England 111-8)
And the tumble continues, with Wood gifting Mitchell a catch at long-on. England need 92 from 28 balls (it ain’t happening).
15th over: England 110-7 (Moeen 25, Wood 3) Sodhi just slightly loses his line with two left-handers out there, firing in two leg-side wides, but England can’t punish the extra deliveries. Sodhi’s Sunday is a fine one, his four overs returning figures of 3-33.
WICKET! Jordan c Seifert b Sodhi 2 (England 104-7)
A beautiful, ripping leg-break from Sodhi, and Jordan edges behind to Seifert.
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14th over: England 104-6 (Jordan 2, Moeen 24) Right then, who’s in the mood for a miracle? Moeen swings across the line to end the over with a six. It was a terrific set from Henry right until that final ball.
England need 99 from 36 balls.
WICKET! Livingstone c Santner b Henry 2 (England 95-6)
Henry bowls a cutter into the surface and Livingstone pulls straight to Santner at deep midwicket.
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13th over: England 95-5 (Livingstone 2, Moeen 17) Santner, just such a clever bowler with his changes of pace and flight, doesn’t give Livingstone an inch. That’s a top over, just three runs conceded and the wicket of Buttler too.
England need 108 from 42 balls.
WICKET! Buttler c&b Santner 40 (England 92-5)
And that should be the game. Buttler tries to pull but doesn’t get anywhere near the desired connection, the ball instead lobbing up high into the air for a simple return catch.
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12th over: England 92-4 (Buttler 40, Moeen 16) Moeen finally finds a big hit, cross-batting Southee over wide long-on for six. The next shot is even better, I reckon, with Moeen thumping past extra cover for four.
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11th over: England 78-4 (Moeen 4, Buttler 38) Sodhi continues, with Buttler carving through the off side to bring Moeen on strike. This is what Moeen will want, spinner turning the ball into him for a leg-side hit – but Sodhi fires the ball wide of off stump to stop that shot. Buttler decides to go straight once again for a six, moving to 36 off 16.
England need 125 from 54 balls.
10th over: England 67-4 (Buttler 29, Moeen 3) Jamieson returns to quieten things down and, with 60 balls to go, England need 136. Five more overs of Buttler and we’ve got a game on. If not, then I reckon it’s a comfy one for New Zealand.
Off the mark with a MAXIMUM! 🙌 #EnglandCricket | #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/F1SN3L3Lmx
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 3, 2023
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9th over: England 61-4 (Buttler 26, Moeen 1) Sodhi drops short, the ball coming out all wrong, and Buttler collects four through the leg side.
WICKET! Brook c Mitchell b Sodhi 8 (England 55-4)
Brook goes! He brings out the reverse sweep but makes no connection and that looks plumb. He goes for a review… and it hit the glove! So Brook survives… before he smashes the next ball straight into the air and into the hands of Mitchell at mid-on.
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8th over: England 55-3 (Brook 8, Buttler 21) Oh, nearly an incredible dismissal! Buttler hits Santner for a big one; Allen leaps at long-on to hold on and throw the ball back in, but it then flies past Daryl Mitchell, running in to try and complete the relay. And after all that, it was actually a six. Ha, silly me. Buttler then smacks to extra cover for four and he’s on 21 off 8.
7th over: England 40-3 (Brook 4, Buttler 10) Jos Buttler misses the ball trying a deft sweep off his first ball, and New Zealand go upstairs for a review. No dice, with ball-tracking showing impact to be outside the line of off stump. Buttler plays out three dots before finally getting away with a straight smack down the ground off Sodhi for six. A reverse-sweep follows to move Buttler to 10. And now the game truly begins.
WICKET! Bairstow c Phillips b Sodhi 12 (England 30-3)
Sodhi drags one down, but Bairstow hits it to deep midwicket! England are in quite a bit of trouble.
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6th over: England 30-2 (Bairstow 12, Brook 4) And with his very first ball, Brook clips behind square on the leg side for four, Ish Sodhi unable to haul the ball back.
WICKET! Malan c Conway b Southee 2 (England 26-2)
Southee takes the last over of the powerplay, and it’s just not clicking for England at all. Malan, trying to overhit the ball, can’t find the middle at all and eventually just chips the ball to Conway out in the deep in the off side. A tough innings for the left-hander, his 2 taking up 11 balls. And here comes Harry Brook…
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5th over: England 25-1 (Bairstow 11, Malan 2) Unreal bit of fielding from Phillips at deep midwicket! Malan slog-swept Santner and the ball was heading over for six until Phillips leapt behind the boundary to parry the ball back in. Instead of six, England pick up just one. It’s been a slow start to the chase.
4th over: England 23-1 (Malan 1, Bairstow 10) Malan gets off the mark with a punch through the off side for one before Bairstow plays a fine straight drive for four to get England moving a little bit quicker.
3rd over: England 17-1 (Bairstow 5, Malan 0) In comes Dawid Malan, a half-century in the first game, a duck in the second. What’s on the menu for today?
WICKET! Jacks c Chapman b Jamieson 11 (England 17-1)
Good to see Kyle Jamieson here; he’s had a tough time with injuries over the last year. Jacks slaps him behind point for four – that’s not a very nice welcome, is it Will? But Jamieson strikes the very next ball, with Jacks slicing to Mark Chapman at deep cover.
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2nd over: England 12-0 (Bairstow 4, Jacks 7) Matt Henry enters the game and it’s a solid start, just four coming off the over.
1st over: England 8-0 (Jacks 6, Bairstow 2) Jacks delicately guides a Southee oustwinger behind point for four before collecting a single to bring Bairstow back on strike. A couple more ones follow.
Off we go, with Bairstow and Jacks opening up. Tim Southee will get his outswinger working.
England need 203 to win
Chapman gets an edge off a full toss to run away to third man for four, and a no-ball from Jordan brings up the 200. But it’s a fine over to finish for England, with Chapman unable to to cause much damage. That’s still a fine total from New Zealand, who have finally shown up in this series with the bat. Allen was brilliant up top with 83 and Phillips came in for the middle-order blast, his 69 coming off just 34 balls.
20th over: New Zealand 202-5 (Chapman 8, Santner 0)
WICKET! Mitchell c Buttler b Atkinson 8 (New Zealand 193-5)
Daryl Mitchell is greeted with a full delivery from Atkinson; with two from his first ball, the batter then hits a full toss straight for four. A short ball follows from Atkinson, with Mitchell clothing away for a couple more. And a wicket to finish! Mitchell tries to scoop over the keeper’s head but ends up gifting Buttler with a catch. It’s been another terrific outing for Gus Atkinson, his final figures 2-31 off four overs.
19th over: New Zealand 193-5 (Chapman 0, Santner 0)
WICKET! Phillips b Atkinson 69 (New Zealand 185-4)
Atkinson is entrusted with the penultimate over, with the rampant Phillips on strike. And how about that! A yorker goes straight through Phillips – that’s a quality delivery to a man who was smashing it all over.
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18th over: New Zealand 185-3 (Phillips 69, Chapman 0) Livingstone is too short to the man with his eye in; Phillips pulls hard for six. And then the right-hander repeats the same shot to make it back-to-back sixes! A wide from Livingstone follows before Phillips hits the best shot of the over; this time he drives over long-off for six. Outrageous stuff.
Fifty for Glenn Phillips!
A couple for Phillips takes him to a half-century off 27 balls. Now for the final push…
WICKET! Allen b Wood 83 (New Zealand 163-3)
Wood arrives for his final over and Phillips swats away a short ball over square leg for six. The fast bowler responds with a fuller, slower delivery but Phillips gets underneath it and blasts it straight for four more.
But Wood strikes with the final ball of the over! Allen is gone for 83, bowled trying to swing hard across the line. A cracking innings, that.
17th over: New Zealand 163-3 (Phillips 48)
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16th over: New Zealand 149-2 (Allen 80, Phillips 37) Phillips’ hands move quickly to slap Jordan through cover for four. An attempted ramp/lap/scoop/whatever the kids call it these days fails from the next ball, but Phillips still gets one for his efforts. Four overs to go and New Zealand could get themselves 200 here.
15th over: New Zealand 137-2 (Phillips 27, Allen 78) Rashid tosses the ball wide of off stump and Allen loves that: he wallops it over long-off for six. And then it’s too short from the leg-spinner, with Allen sitting back to slap it over deep midwicket for six more. And then the third in a row! This one’s the best of the lot, Allen going straight down the ground. Rashid sends in a quicker, flatter delivery to stop the sequence.
14th over: New Zealand 117-2 (Allen 59, Phillips 26) Atkinson returns as New Zealand press for an imposing total, but they can’t get the rookie quick away to the boundary. There’s a nice change-up from Atkinson, a 73mph slower ball, that beats Phillips’ waft, proving that he does have range to go with the pace.
13th over: New Zealand 112-2 (Allen 57, Phillips 23) Livingstone is swept around the corner by Phillips for four, and then comes a six – Livi’s leggie is too short and the ball is sent on its way over the leg-side rope.
12th over: New Zealand 100-2 (Phillips 11, Allen 57) Rashid comes in for his third over and, like Livingstone, gets some eye-catching turn with his leg-break, prompting Buttler to bring Moeen in at slip. Allen and Phillips knock it about for singles and a two. And that brings the ton up, with this shaping up to be New Zealand’s finest batting performance in the series so far (by some distance).
11th over: New Zealand 94-2 (Allen 55, Phillips 7) Jordan goes short to Phillips, who quickly swivels to pull away behind square for four.
Fifty for Finn Allen!
Moeen Ali comes into slip for the new batter Glenn Phillips, with Livingstone having showcased some significant turn off the pitch. Too short to finish the over from the bowler, with Allen smashing for six over cow corner to bring up his half-century off 35 balls. From 20 off 21, he’s caught up well.
10th over: New Zealand 86-2 (Phillips 2, Allen 53)
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WICKET! Seifert st Buttler b Livingstone 19 (New Zealand 75-2)
Livingstone bowls a gorgeous leg break that spins big to beat Seifert’s bat, and Buttler takes the bails off. The batter’s foot isn’t back in and he’s on his way for 19.
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9th over: New Zealand 75-1 (Seifert 19, Allen 44) Allen comes down the track to dispatch a Rashid googly for six.
A question has come in on why England are wearing black armbands; they’re to remember the life of Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe legend who has died at the age of 49.
8th over: New Zealand 64-1 (Seifert 16, Allen 36) Dropped! Livingstone enters the attack and Seifert tries to clear deep midwicket: Jacks runs around in the deep but can’t hold on, with the ball running away for four. It was between two fielders, with Chris Jordan at long-on the other fielder in the shot. You’d probably prefer Jordan, perhaps England’s greatest ever fielder, under that one.
7th over: New Zealand 54-1 (Allen 33, Seifert 9) Rashid’s twirlers are here, and they quickly run through, just six runs coming off the over.
6th over: New Zealand 48-1 (Seifert 4, Allen 32) Atkinson pulls off a fine stop at short fine leg, saving a boundary with a dive to his right after Allen whipped away a Wood delivery.
5th over: New Zealand 39-1 (Seifert 1, Allen 26) The first change of bowling sees Chris Jordan come in. Allen can hit the ball harder than most but – as pointed out by Sangakkara and Doull – he does chew up quite a few dots. And just as I write that, he moves from 20 off 21 to 26 off 22, smashing one straight onto the long-off rope.
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4th over: New Zealand 31-1 (Allen 20, Seifert 0) It was looking like a decent start from New Zealand, but they’ve needlessly lost Conway.
WICKET! Conway run out Moeen/Buttler 9 (New Zealand 30-1)
Cracking shot from Allen: he makes room for a thump over extra cover for four, touches of Baz McCullum with that stroke.
Oh, this is poor stuff. Allen smacks Atkinson over the off side from the final ball of the over and they try and pick up three, but Conway is well short heading back to the striker’s end. And it was a no ball!
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3rd over: New Zealand 20-0 (Allen 11, Conway 8) Wood continues and shows off his off-cutter, with Allen and Conway knocking it around for singles before the left-hander tries to go big over the off-side with the last ball of the over; he can only pick up two, though.
2nd over: New Zealand 15-0 (Allen 9, Conway 5) Time for Atkinson; how’s he going to follow up his debut single? Conway is into him straight away, driving to the right of cover for four. A couple of singles are exchanged before a leg-side wide, but it’s still a decent start from the quick.
1st over: New Zealand 8-0 (Conway 0, Allen 8) Bit of early swing for Wood, into the right-handed Allen. The batter is off the mark third ball, seeing it overpitched and leaning into a drive through the covers for four. And then four more the next ball, through the covers once again.
Alright, let’s get this show going. Allen and Conway are out there, as is someone dressed as a bush, and it’ll be Luke Wood to open up.
I’m actually doing this from the Oval, where Surrey are in action against Warwickshire. Plenty of applause just now for Dom Sibley, who’s gone to fifty. Tanya Aldred’s keeping tabs on everything happening in the shires.
A little catch-up: here’s Raf Nicholson’s report from Sri Lanka’s historic win over England at Chelmsford yesterday.
New Zealand’s XI:
Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee (c), Matt Henry
England’s XI:
🔄 We've made two changes from Friday...
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 3, 2023
➡️ Luke Wood
➡️ Chris Jordan
⬅️ Brydon Carse
⬅️ Sam Curran
📺 Follow along live right here 👇#EnglandCricket | #ENGvNZ
New Zealand win the toss and choose to bat first
Tim Southee has his say and confirms two changes: Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne are out, Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson are in. They really do have loads of quality quicks.
Preamble
Hello folks and welcome to coverage of the third T20I between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston!
Let’s be real: it’s been easy as you like for England against what is a very decent New Zealand line-up, particularly with that bowling attack. The margins have been far from bare, with a seven-wicket win at Durham (with six overs to spare), followed by a 95-run shellacking at Old Trafford.
The two newcomers have been class, with Brydon Carse taking 3-23 in the opener before Gus Atkinson went one better, blazing away with 4-20 on Friday night. The latter clocked 92mph with his second delivery in international cricket and really does have the loveliest, smoothest, silkiest of bowling actions. I could get used to watching him work away in an England shirt.
Of course, the big story remains Harry Brook who, even by his standards, was something else the other night, those sixes over extra cover against Ish Sodhi just ridiculous. England can win the World Cup without him, sure – they did just that four years ago. But he’s clearly brilliant, just like Jofra Archer was when he got thrown into the deep end. Pick him – there’s going to be heartbreak somewhere, but this is how the game works.
Anyway, we’re still a while away from England having to make that final World Cup call. For now, sit back and enjoy today – I’ll be here to take you through to the finish. Get in touch with your thoughts, feelings, song requests, whatever you fancy.
