World Of Cricket

Dunedin: After day 1 was washed out due to rain, day 2 was dominated by New Zealand in all departments as they are only 36 runs behind of England’s score with all 10 wickets in hand.

Hamish Rutherford raises his bat after scoring fifty on his debut © AFP

Only toss was possible on day 1 which was won by New Zealand and they choose to field first. The toss helped New Zealand in the 2nd day as they demolished England, the day 2 was completely dominated by New Zealand.

England started day 2 in awful manner as they lost Compton early in the match. Peterson joined Cook and they both started to stable the innings after an early loss but Wagner had other plans, he dismissed both Cook and Peterson of successive deliveries.

Bell and Trott then combined a small partnership before Wagner dismissed Bell who was looking dangerous, Root soon joined him in dressing room as Boult ended his small stay.

Prior then joined Trott who attacked New Zealand bowlers but not for long as he too was dismissed for 23, soon after him Trott was also picked up by Martin to leave England in a dismal state.

The tail then hung around for a while Broad, Finn and Anderson contributed 10,20 and 23 respectively to take England’s first innings total to 167. Wagner and Martin troubled England as they both picked up 4 wickets each while Southee and Boult picked up 1 each.

For New Zealand Fulton and debutant Rutherford started the innings. They both stood like  rock against threatening England bowling line-up . Both played with positive intent, the debutant Rutherford in particular smashed England’s bowlers to all parts and batted with a strike rate of 68, which is very impressive.

Fulton and Rutherford made sure that they stay together till the end of the day to make in New Zealand’s day both added 131 and still are batting. England will have to do something special to get back into the game. New Zealand are only 36 runs behind England’s first inning total and they will fancy their chances from here.

Dunedin: The debutants Bruce Martin and Neil Wagner combined to bundle up the England team for 167.

Kevin Petersen was dismissed for a first ball duck by Wagner © Getty Images

After the first day was washed out, the New Zealanders took full advantage of the surface to dismiss the English on a paltry 167. Today was one of the worst performances by the England’s batting order in recent times. The Kiwi bowlers were extremely accurate with their line and length and deserve all the praise, but the fact that it was one of the most embarrassing performance from the English side cannot be kept hidden.

Neil Wagner partnered with the debutant Bruce Martin to totally annihilate the English batsmen. After very poor performance from the England’s batting order, Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford showed that although the surface wasn’t a walk in the park but neither it was something that could not be dealt with as they put on 131 for the opening wicket when stumps was called.

Both the batsmen displayed great solidness at most of the times but did show signs of nervousness too. Rutherford was pretty much unrestrained for most part of the innings but did present with a couple of chances too. Both chances came of Broad’s bowling but were dropped both the times, on 52 by the bowler himself and on 64 by Kevin Petersen at point.

Neil Wagner playing at home had a great start to the test. Southee provided with the early breakthrough dismissing Compton under  10, Cook couldn’t stay for longer too.  Wagner was on a hat-trick in the 11th over as both Cook and Pietersen fell on back to back deliveries. Once Martin came on, there wasn’t much in it for the England batsmen.

Jonathan Trott was the only English batsman that showed some promise of going on for a longer innings but his stay ended soon after Prior’s dismissal. Trott formed little partnerships with Bell and Root but nothing too damaging for the Kiwis. On his debut Martin ended up with figures of four wickets for 43 and he was the one who dismissed Trott.

Finn and Anderson added 47 for the 9th wicket before Finn was dismissed by Wagner. This was the only period where the Kiwis felt a little irritated, on an otherwise perfect day. The Black Caps are in the driving seat to take this test match, until or unless they throw it away themselves.

Dunedin: Both the teams kept waiting on the sidelines as the rain gods opened up heavily.

The groundstaff tried their best but rain kept coming back © AFP

The first day of the first test between New Zealand and England ended without a ball being bowled. New Zealand had won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast conditions but then the sky opened up, and almost never stopped.

Heavy rain kept returning with intervals in between when it stopped or wasn’t heavy. The very heavy rain ensured that the game could not start. Even though there were quite a few periods when it was gentle the umpires called the game off after tea because of the large amount of water that swept across the ground.

New Zealand had gone in with a left arm spinner, Bruce Martrin, who was on debut. Ian Butler who was called back in the squad since 2004 was left out as the fourth seamer even though the conditions favored the quickies. For England too, the lead spinner was a left arm, Monty Panesar as Graem Swann had to leave the squad and the remaining tour due to elbow surgery. Stuart Broad is also making a comeback for the English after his problem with his heel.

The umpires have decided to make up for the time lost today by starting the game as early as 10 am local time in all the remaining days of the test, rain permitting off course. Here are the teams that are bound to play tomorrow:

New Zealand team:

PG Fulton, HD Rutherford, KS Williamson, LRPL Taylor, DG Brownlie, BB McCullum*, BJ Watling†, TG Southee, BP Martin, N Wagner, TA Boult

England team:

AN Cook*, NRD Compton, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, JE Root, MJ Prior†, SCJ Broad, ST Finn, JM Anderson, MS Panesar

Former World T20 Champions,England beat New Zealand in 3rd T20 to win the series 2-1

England won the T20 series against New Zealand by 2-1

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and opted to Bat first. Batting first New Zealand scored 139 runs. Guptil scored brilliant 59 runs but these 59 runs were not enough to stop England from winning. Except Guptil, New Zealand batting was flopped and no other batsman was able to make an impact in the series decider. Ross Taylor once again could not perform and Brendon MacCullum who scored match winning innings in the 2nd T20 scored 26 runs.

On the other hand Broad once again played a match winning role and picked 3 wickets. Broad’s economy rate was 3.75 which is very impressive in T20s. When England started their batting they starting dominating New Zealand. England won the series decider comfortably by 10 wickets with 44 balls remaining. Michael Lumb and Alex Hales were brilliant and they both scored 9 sixes.  Alex Hales scored 80 runs with 5 sixes and Micheal Lumb scored 53 runs with 4 sixes. This was a one sided match and England won the series 2-1.

Hamilton: Brendon McCullum the New Zealand captain played a captain’s knock of 74 to take his team t0 a thumping victory in the second T20 international against England to level the series 1-1.

Brendon McCullum helped NZ level the series © Getty Images

England came into this match with their heads held high as they won convincingly against New Zealand in the first t20 international. It required a big effort from New Zealand to level the series and they did just that.

Earliar in the day England captain Stuart Broad won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat. Guptill and Rutherford opened for them they batted with positive intent and give their batters a perfect platform to build the innings.

Both added 75 in just 8.2 overs Luke Wright broke the partnership when Rutherford edged to Buttler .Rutherfor made an impressive 40 in only his second t20 international. Guptill soon followed him he also went for a well made 47.

English players were looking to make inroads but Brendon McCullum had some other plans. He was in no mood to give away the good start provided by the openers he hit 5 mighty sixes in his score of 74 of just 38 balls to take New Zealand to a mountain of 192 runs. No other batsmen could made an impact but it did not matter in the end as Brendon McCullum played a brilliant knock.

The momentum was clearly with New Zealand going into the second innings and England had to deliver something special to win the match and take the t20 series.

Alex Hales and Michael Lumb started for England but they didn’t last long. Luke wright also went for first ball. England had a very bad start which they did not want while chasing 192.

England lost their half side for just 47 it was an uphill task for them from that point. Buttler resisted for a while but he also fell for 55.  Tredwell made a quick 22 lower down the order but it was not enough for his team as they folded for just 137.

James Franklin was the most impressive Kiwi bowler as he picked up 4 wickets whereas McClenaghan and Butler picked up 2 wickets each.

This victory for New Zealand means that the last t20 will be a very spicy encounter as both teams will be looking to take the series by winning the final match of the series which will be played on February 15th.

Hamilton: England won the first T20 as New Zealand wrapped up a 55-run win to level the three-match T2o series 1-1.

Brendon McCullum scored match winning 74 from 38 balls to help NZ level the series

Batting first New Zealand scored  192-6 which was a very good total. New Zealand openers started very well and star of the innings was Brandon McCullum. Brandon McCullum scored match winning 74 runs from 38 balls with 5 beautiful sixes.England have never successfully chased a target of such magnitude before and they certainly did not chase this one. They were all our scoring just 137 runs.

Surprisingly after wining the toss, Stuart Broad on a dry, lightly cloudy evening opted to bowl first. After the match Stuart Broad accepted “Probably should have batted first”. When England started their batting, they were under pressure because they have never chased such a huge target before. Bairstow scored 54 runs but that was not enough to stop New Zealand from victory.

The series will be decided in Wellington on Friday. Final match would be an exiting match as both teams can win. Former world T20 champions England have ability to bounce back. On the other hand this victory was important for New Zealand as they were down after the defeat from South Africa.  This victory will surely boost their confidence.