Williamson was named Man of the Match for his knock of 118
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New Zealand batsmen Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor were not daunted by the prospect of chasing 303 in the third ODI in Southampton as they both scored centuries to lead the Black Caps to a three-wicket win over England.
However, even though New Zealand took a 2-1 lead in the series after finding themselves 1-0 down after the first game, England captain Eoin Morgan, all-rounder Ben Stokes and batsman Joe Root all deserve a lot of credit for their valiant knocks of 71, 68 and 54 respectively.
While Morgan would have initially been nervous about his decision to bat first after openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy were dismissed within the space of three balls, he would have been a lot more relieved when he and Root stabilised the innings with a 105-run stand.
During their partnership, Root brought up his half-century before he was clean bowled by Mitchell Santner a short while later for 54 off 63 balls, which included six boundaries.
Root scored a valiant 54
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Morgan and Stokes kept the runs flowing with a 55-run partnership, during which Morgan registered his half-century, before he was cleaned up by Williamson for 71 off 82 deliveries, which included four boundaries and two sixes.
Morgan scored his third consecutive half-century
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Following Morgan’s dismissal, England began to lose wickets at regular intervals. However, much to Morgan’s delight, Stokes began to take over as he hammered the New Zealand bowling attack all over the park.
But, just as Stokes had shifted his game into the next gear, England fans could only watch in horror as his leg stump was uprooted by debutant Ben Wheeler.
Nonetheless, Stokes provided a lot of entertainment for the fans at The Rose Bowl as his quickfire knock of 68 came off 47 balls and included seven boundaries and two sixes.
Stokes made a gutsy 68
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With none of the lower order batsmen making any useful contributions, England were ultimately dismissed for 302.
Wheeler and Tim Southee were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets apiece, while Matt Henry snapped up two and Santner and Williamson chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 303 to win, New Zealand got off to a poor start as opener Martin Guptill and captain Brendon McCullum were dismissed early on.
With England firmly in control and on the prowl for another wicket, Williamson and Taylor kept them at bay with a 206-run partnership, which is now the highest third-wicket stand for New Zealand in ODI history.
During their record-breaking stand, Williamson brought up his seventh ODI century and Taylor his 14th, before Williamson was caught by Mark Wood off the bowling of David Willey.
Williamson’s brilliant knock of 118 came off 113 balls and included 12 boundaries and a six.
Even though New Zealand lost Grant Elliott and Santner in fairly quick time after Williamson was dismissed, Taylor stood his ground and managed to work his way to 110 off 123 deliveries, which included 12 boundaries, before his resistance was brought to an end when he was clean bowled by Willey.
Taylor celebrates after scoring his second successive ODI century
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Thanks to Williamson and Taylor, New Zealand mopped up the remaining runs and reached their target with one over to spare.
Willey was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Stokes took two and Wood and Adil Rashid claimed one wicket each.
Morgan was disappointed to have lost, and said: “I think 300 was a pretty good score, proud of the way the guys played with a positive mindset. We looked like getting 350+ and that’s exciting. What cost us was Kane and Ross’ partnership, and we couldn’t break it. We’ve taken the overs out of the equation, we were aiming for a lot more which is important.
“We could have held our disciplines [with the ball] better, but it was a very good wicket. We’ll assess how we can come back stronger. Wood and Willey were outstanding. We set the bar high in the field and have been a bit below that. We did a lot of things right with the bat today.”
McCullum was delighted to have taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and said: “This game we were under a lot of pressure but the way responded in the last 10 overs was a good sign. Sometimes we can try a bit too hard and sometimes you just need to back yourself, take a breath and know your skills will stand up. In the end I thought our bowling was pretty good on a 320-330 wicket. Trent is a massive loss to us but Ben had a nice poise about him. Kane and Ross just keep churning out results for us. We did what we needed to to win the game.”
Williamson was named Man of the Match, and said: “That partnership in the middle was key, but it was so important to bowl England out. They played really well again. You could break down the total which wasn’t as far away as 400. To get across the line was a really good effort. Ross has been outstanding, his contribution was massive.”