England 163 for 6 (Buttler 73, Bairstow 30, Sodhi 3-26) beat New Zealand 150 (Guptill 41, Wood 4-23, Rashid 3-18) by 13 runs
Match Report : England’s prime batters all found time in the middle, and Jos Buttler made the most of it with a typically stylish half-century, before Mark Wood and Adil Rashid triggered a collapse to a budding New Zealand chase. A last-wicket partnership of 47 between legspinners Ish Sodhi and Todd Astle took New Zealand within 14 runs of victory with five balls to go, before Astle was out hit-wicket off Chris Woakes to hand England the win. New Zealand have now lost in both their warm-up games. Not a good sign for the Kiwis.
The First Inning
England captain Eoin Morgan came into the XI after sitting out the game against India and lost the toss. England then lost Jason Roy first ball of the match, before Buttler took responsibility in a 48-run stand with Dawid Malan.
Buttler was happy hitting through the line and over the infield during the powerplay and even brought out his famous scoop, as he kept the run rate up with Malan scratching his way to 11 off 15 at the other end.
Sodhi was the only one to put the brakes on Buttler’s innings, and he went on to get Malan and then Morgan, the latter a fortuitous lbw for which he had barely appealed. Morgan seemed to have got a big inside edge on his attempted reverse sweep but was given out immediately on appeal. A poor decision by the umpire.
Buttler kept his scoring up, eventually falling for 73 after having hit 11 boundaries and two sixes. Jonny Bairstow batted at No. 5 and till the last over, but it was Sam Billings who played a cameo in the death overs with an unbeaten 17-ball 27.
The Second Inning
New Zealand’s chase took off immediately with Martin Guptill enjoying the pace of the pitch as he got off to his free-flowing best. Much like Buttler, Guptill looked far more comfortable than the batters at the other end as he got his eye in early. He holed out to long-on immediately after the powerplay, but his 41 off 20 had taken New Zealand to 66 by then.
Devon Conway’s scrappy innings ended with a run-out and from that point on, England tied New Zealand up through Rashid and Wood, who took seven wickets between them as 81 for 2 swiftly turned to 103 for 9.
But Astle and Sodhi made use of the five-and-some overs still left in the innings, with the asking rate not too far out of reach thanks to Guptill’s early big shots. Sodhi played the aggressor, taking a particular liking to Woakes, and Astle managed to get a six off Chris Jordan in the 19th over to leave New Zealand 15 to get off the last over. A scrappy victory wasn’t to be, though, as he stepped on his stumps trying to turn Woakes behind fine leg.
Video of Jos Butler 73 Runs : 11 Fours 2 Sixes : T20 WC 2021@t20worldcup https://t.co/kDnbGYUH8S
— avishkar govardhane (@avishkargovardh) October 20, 2021
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