Taylor celebrates after scoring his 13th ODI century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor smashed an unbeaten 119 to not only help the Black Caps defeat England by 13 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in the second ODI at The Oval, but also level the series at 1-1.
Taylor was well supported by batsman Kane Williamson, who scored 93, and opener Martin Guptill, who made 50.
However, England captain Eoin Morgan and opener Alex Hales deserve a lot of credit as they scored 88 and 54 respectively.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum would have been delighted with his decision to bat first as he and Guptill amassed a 61-run partnership before he was caught by Ben Stokes at midwicket off the bowling of Liam Plunkett for 39.
Guptill and Williamson kept the runs flowing with a 53-run partnership, during which Guptill brought up his half-century, before he was caught by Chris Jordan at short midwicket off the bowling of Stokes.
Guptill’s solid knock of 50 came off 54 balls and included six boundaries and a six.
Guptill hit six boundaries and a six during his knock of 50
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New Zealand’s dominance with the bat continued when Williamson and Taylor put together a 121-run partnership, during which Williamson registered his half-century, before he was caught by Plunkett at mid-on off the bowling of Stokes.
The umpires initially ruled the delivery as a no-ball as they thought it was over waist height, but the third umpire overturned their decision and Williamson was forced to walk back to the pavilion after scoring 93 off 88 deliveries, which included 12 boundaries and a six.
Williamson fell seven runs short of his seventh ODI century
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New Zealand continued to excel with the bat as Taylor and Grant Elliott accumulated a 72-run partnership, during which Taylor recorded his half-century, before Elliott was given out lbw off the bowling of Jordan for 32.
Wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi made a quickfire 33 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Steven Finn.
Taylor and Mitchell Santner amassed an unbeaten 46-run partnership, during which Taylor brought up his 13th ODI century, as New Zealand finished on 398/5, which is now the highest ODI score at The Oval.
Taylor finished on 119 off 96 balls, which included 10 boundaries and four sixes, while Santner remained undefeated on 15 off 11 deliveries, which included two boundaries.
Stokes was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Finn, Jordan and Plunkett chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 399 to win initially, England got off to a superb start as Hales and Jason Roy put together an 85-run partnership before Roy was caught by Taylor at short third man off the bowling of Nathan McCullum for 39.
Joe Root failed to have an impact with the bat as he was caught by Nathan McCullum at midwicket off the bowling of Santner for six runs.
Santner struck again just two balls later when Hales was caught by Trent Boult at deep midwicket for 54 off 49 balls, which included six boundaries and three sixes.
Hales scored a valiant 54
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Morgan and Stokes stabilised the innings with a 63-run partnership before Stokes was caught behind off the bowling of Mitchell McClenaghan for 28.
Morgan and Jos Buttler kept England in contention with a 96-run stand, during which Morgan registered his half-century, before Buttler was caught behind off the bowling of Boult for 41.
Morgan went on to score 88 off 47 balls, which included six boundaries and six sixes, before he was caught by Elliott at deep point off the bowling of McClenaghan.
Morgan made a gutsy 88
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Sam Billings mustered 12 runs before he was caught by Guptill at backward point off the bowling of Boult.
Plunkett and Adil Rashid accumulated a last-gasp 76-run stand before Plunkett was caught by Brendon McCullum at mid-off off the bowling of Nathan McCullum for 44.
Since there was a rain delay during Plunkett and Rashid’s partnership, England were set a revised target of 379 to win off 46 overs.
Rashid ended up making 34 before he was caught by Boult off the bowling of Nathan McCullum.
Heading into the final over, England needed 24 runs to win, but were only able to score 10 runs, which left them 14 runs short of their target.
McCullum was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Boult, McClenaghan and Santner claimed two wickets each.
Despite losing the game, Morgan lauded his side for putting up a great fight, and said: “Epic game to play in, the style of cricket we emulated today, I am very proud of. Our fielding was a little disappointing but credit to New Zealand for the way they structured their innings. The chase wasn’t a problem for us, it was a case of keeping that up into the late 30s, early 40s overs. When you chase a big score the manner in which you play and the way you take the game to the opposition is important.
“I struck it well today and it’s close to my best again. The mood in the camp is superb. Personally I think D/L will change as the game changes but we were just glad we got back out there. It’s such exciting cricket to play.”
McCullum was relieved to have kept England at bay and levelled the series at 1-1.
“I was terrified at times! England are playing a totally different brand of cricket to what they have played recently,” he said. “Credit to us for holding our nerve at the end there. I though 398 was a good start but the wicket was excellent. There were times when I though we were in front but they came back at us.
“The weather helped us but it was a tremendous game of cricket. Kane was superb and Ross combined with a few partnerships to accelerate the score, it was outstanding from Ross and we knew we needed a big score and he delivered. The next three games promises to be cracking cricket again. The crowds in the games to come should be excited.”
Taylor was named Man of the Match, and said: “I was probably trying a little too hard in the Test series but here I’m just concentrating on going out to express myself and so far so good.”