On the back of Dawid Malan's scintillating century and Moeen Ali's stifling spell with the ball, England defeated New Zealand by 100 runs in the 4th and final ODI at the Lord's cricket ground on September 15 (Friday). As a result, the Three Lions clinched the series by a comfortable margin of 3-1 and found the much-needed momentum ahead of the marquee ODI World Cup. For the Black Caps, their worst-possible nightmare sprung into reality after premier pacer Tim Southee suffered a broken bone on his right thumb and is now staring at the possibility of missing the quadrennial competition scheduled to begin on October 5.
For New Zealand, once again their batting line-up failed to put up a solid performance while chasing another daunting target of 212 runs. Apart from Rachin Ravindra, who scored 61 runs off 48 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes, none of the Kiwi batters displayed the desire and temperament to convert their starts into a substantial score.
Henry Nicholls (41), Will Young (24) and Glenn Phillips (25) got decent starts to their respecting innings but neither of the three batters stuck around to take the game deep. As it turned out, the visitors could only bat for 38.2 overs and manage a score of 211 all out.
For the Three Lions, Ali bagged four wickets in his spell of 10 overs and conceded 50 runs. David Willey, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat. It was a really a one-man show for England with the bat as Malan looked in sublime touch from the onset and went on to smack another ton in ODI cricket. The left-handed opening batter scored 127 runs off 114 balls with the help of 14 fours and three sixes.
Joe Root (29), Buttler (36) and Livingstone (28) faltered after getting off to a decent start while Sam Curran (20), Willey (19) and Carse (15) unleashed some lusty blows at the end which powered England total to 311/9 in 50 overs.
For New Zealand, Ravindra was the pick of all bowlers as he finished with four wickets in 10 overs and leaked 60 runs. Matt Henry and Daryl Mitchell chipped in with two wickets while Kyle Jamieson bagged one wicket.
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