Follow UsIt was a day to forget for the Three Lions, who lost the toss and were put into bat first. England got themselves off to the best start possible when Jonny Bairstow nonchalantly flicked a ball over the square leg boundary for a six.
Despite losing Dawid Malan at the other end, the duo of Bairstow and Joe Root kept the run-rate ticking with some ultra-aggressive batting. Root, in particular, was uber-aggressive, including a reverse scoop over the third-man region for a six. At 188/4, it was a game that was well and truly in England’s hands.
But then one dismissal, a poor shot from Jos Buttler, put England in a spot of bother, as they crumbled to 229/7 before a late 30-run partnership between Adil Rashid and Mark Wood took them over the 280-run mark. New Zealand cruised to a nine-wicket win, chasing down 283 in just 36.2 overs, with a 150 from Devon Conway.
“Disappointing day, outplayed by New Zealand, tough to take that defeat. One loss, still a long tournament. Lot of guys in our team have played a lot of cricket. We have beaten teams this way before and we have been at the end of such results before,” Buttler said in the post-match presentation.
“I thought we were well below par, not judging by the way New Zealand batted, because we were aiming for somewhere around 330. It was a good wicket to bat and I think it got even better in the second innings. Tough to build any pressure with the start they got. We lacked being clinical with our executions,” he went on to add.
“Skidded on even better under lights, that's why we wanted to bowl as well. I thought he is back to his old self. Don't think there is any question about Joe. He's a run-maker in any format he plays. We will wait and see. He is working hard with the physio,” Buttler summed up England’s loss.
New Zealand’s skipper Tom Latham was extremely happy with the win, stating that the second-wicket partnership (273-run) between Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway was ‘fantastic’.
“It's a fantastic performance. Fantastic partnership. Fantastic effort with the ball to restrict them to 280 which is below par. Pretty good build-up. We have played in these conditions in the last year or so,” Latham said in the post-match presentation.
The BlackCaps were forced to field two seamers in the absence of Lockie Ferguson and insisted that the seamers - Matt Henry and Trent Boult - got wickets at crucial junctures to puncture England’s hopes.
“Likes of two seamers did a fantastic job. We got wickets at crucial times, to restrict them to 280 odd from the situation they were in was fantastic. The shots they played was fantastic, certainly wasn't the plan when they went out. Both must have felt really good when they played shots.
New Zealand’s next fixture is on October 9 against the Netherlands, while England will play Bangladesh on October 10 in Dharamsala.