McCullum Leads New Zealand To Comfortable Win

McCullum Leads New Zealand To Comfortable Win

Brendon McCullum took the game away from England by striking three sixes from Stuart Broad's final over.

©REUTERS/Simon Watts. Picture Supplied by Action Images

New Zealand 192-6 (B McCullum 74) beat
England 137 (Franklin 4-15) by 55 runs
Second Twenty20 International, Hamilton
Scorecard

A brilliant innings of 74 from New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum helped his side level the Twenty20 series against England at Hamilton’s Seddon Park. McCullum stopped the Black Caps innings from being derailed by a cluster of wickets and smashed 38 off the final two overs.

Three sixes came off the penultimate over from England skipper Stuart Broad, with Jade Dernbach’s final over yielding 16 runs as James Franklin slapped the last ball for four. Franklin then ended with four wickets in the England run chase as they fell woefully short and were bundled out for 137.

England had again won the toss at the start of the evening but elected to bowl this time at a ground with more sensibly-sized boundaries than those at Eden Park. Martin Guptill and Hamish Rutherford, though, began things in familiar fashion and had put on 75 in little more than eight overs by the time Rutherford edged through to Jos Buttler for 40. Luke Wright was the successful bowler and would again impress with his medium-pace, taking two for 24 to follow up his two for 29 in the first match.

Following the dismissal of Guptill three overs later, the Black Caps’ innings would enter a bit of a dip as regular wickets fell. Ross Taylor, Colin Munro and Grant Elliott each fell in single figures, with McCullum remaining an ever-present throughout and ensuring that the scoreboard kept moving. The innings then exploded in the final two overs as New Zealand progressed from a manageable 154 for five after 18 overs to 192 for six after 20. McCullum holed out off the penultimate delivery but by then the damage was done.

The England run chase was, at least initially, an anti-climax following McCullum’s effort, and had limped to 47 for five in the 11th over. Alex Hales and Luke Wright were both accounted for in Mitchell McClenaghan’s opening over, with Jonny Bairstow following suit in Ian Butler’s. Michael Lumb was bowled via his pad for 17 off 23 balls in the 10th over, with Eoin Morgan, after passing a late fitness test, making 13 prior to holing out to deep backward point.

Jos Buttler again provided the innings with some late impetus, hitting 54 off 30 balls, but without a platform to build upon thanks to the failures of his colleagues, it was an effort always likely to prove in vain. He was eight man out with the score on 115 and, following a brief flurry from James Tredwell (22 off 11 balls), the match was done.

Franklin finished things by bowling Tredwell and having Jade Dernbach caught from successive deliveries as England were all out for 137 to lose by 55 runs. They must now regroup ahead of the series decider in Wellington in three days’ time.

© Cricket World 2013