England made a mockery of New Zealand on August 30 (Wednesday) at Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street and once again reminded everyone why they are the defending T20 World Cup champions. In a game that was entirely dominated by the Three Lions from start to finish, Jos Buttler's men registered a resounding seven-wicket win with 36 balls to spare. As a result, England took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series against the Black Caps.
After restricting New Zealand to 139/9 in 20 overs, England batters displayed their customary aggression with the willow and smashed Kiwi bowlers around for fun. Dawid Malan top-scored for the hosts while in-form Harry Brook also played an attractive knock.
Malan scored 54 runs off 42 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes while Brook added 43 runs off 27 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. The lowly target was chase down by the Three Lions without even breaking a sweat and the game was over in a jiffy.
For New Zealand, captain Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi bagged a wicket each.
Earlier, Kiwi opener Finn Allen powered three sixes in the powerplay but couldn't convert his 15-ball 21-run knock into a substantial score. The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and it was only because of Glenn Phillips' measured knock that the Black Caps managed to put a decent score on the board.
Phillips scored 41 runs off 38 balls with the help of four fours. Adam Milne and Ish Sodhi combined to smash two sixes and a four that ultimately pushed the Kiwi's score to 139/9.
For England, Brydon Carse was the pick of all bowlers as bagged three wickets for 23 runs in his quota of four overs. Luke Wood also bagged three wickets but he was slightly expensive on the night, conceding 37 runs in his spell. Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone chipped in with a wicket each.
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