Ross Taylor celebrates after scoring his 18th ODI century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor struck a magnificent 113 to lead his side to a nail-biting three-wicket win over England in the first ODI in Hamilton.
As a result of their victory, which was aided by some brilliant batting by Mitchell Santner towards the end of the match, the Black Caps took a 1-0 lead in the series and extended their winning streak in ODIs to nine games.
Choosing to bowl first, England lost opener Jonny Bairstow early on as he was caught by Taylor at slip off the bowling of Trent Boult for four runs.
Jason Roy and Joe Root stabilised the innings with a 79-run partnership before Roy was clean bowled by Santner for 49.
England captain Eoin Morgan only made eight runs, while the returning Ben Stokes fared slightly better as he scored 12.
Root and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler added 42 runs to the score before Root was cleaned up by Colin Munro for 71, which came off 75 balls and included five boundaries and a six.
Joe Root scored his 27th ODI fifty
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Even though England began losing wickets at regular intervals, Buttler’s 65-ball 79, which included five boundaries and five sixes, helped the tourists finish on 285/8.
Jos Buttler struck his 15th half-century in ODI cricket
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Boult, Santner and Ish Sodhi picked up two wickets apiece, while Munro chipped in with one.
Chasing 286 to win, New Zealand made a horrible start to their innings as Munro was caught behind off the bowling of Chris Woakes for six runs.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson only made eight before he was caught behind off the bowling of David Willey, while Martin Guptill was caught by Stokes off the bowling of Woakes for 13.
With the Black Caps struggling at 27/3, Taylor and wicketkeeper Tom Latham steadied the ship with a 178-run stand, during which both batsmen sailed past their half-centuries.
Tom Latham made his 10th ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Having turned their fortunes around, New Zealand were now in cruise control. However, England finally got the breakthrough they were looking for when Stokes removed Latham for 79, which came off 84 balls and included six boundaries.
Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme fell shortly after, while Taylor went on to make 113 off 116 balls, which included 12 boundaries before he was stumped by Buttler off the bowling of Adil Rashid.
With Santner taking over after Taylor’s dismissal, New Zealand went into the final over of the match needing nine runs to win.
Santner started off by hitting a boundary before Woakes bowled a wide. Santner finished things off on the very next ball as he walloped a massive six over deep midwicket.
Santner ended up finishing on 45 off 27 balls, which included two boundaries and four sixes.
Woakes and Stokes took two wickets apiece, while Rashid, Willey and Tom Curran claimed one wicket each.
Williamson was thrilled to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “We had to play a lot of cricket before the dew came in, but it certainly was a factor. Keeping them to 70 in the last ten was a great effort, especially when Jos Buttler can hit it to all parts. Mitch Santner is a clean ball-striker.”
Morgan was disappointed to have lost, and said: “There wasn’t much between the sides, we put a really competitive score on the board, but they fought back really well. It ebbed and flowed quite a while but taking it to the end, we didn’t have enough in the tank. The dew played a part, it’s a reason [we’d have batted second]. It was a competitive game, and great to be part of.”
Taylor was named Man of the Match, and said: “I live here, so sleeping in my own bed must have an effect. I needed to take it deep and give ourselves a chance. It was a little two-faced, even the slower balls kissed off different to a few days ago. Very small boundaries here so we backed ourselves to get 50 off five overs.”