Daryl Mitchell’s (78*) and Michael Bracewell’s (51) fifties propelled New Zealand’s 1-0 lead in the ODI series, overshadowing Harry Brook‘s one-man show of a superb century. Zakary Foulkes (4-41) and Jacob Duffy (3-55) opened the game with strong bowling performances that shook Engand early before Brook responded.
Matt Henry opened the scoring for New Zealand with the opening ball of the match, cleaning out Jamie Smith by breaking through his bat-pad gap. The visitors were then reduced to 5/3 when Foulkes bowled off an inswinger and Ben Duckett, who had opened up from outside the stumps to nick him off. Soon after, that changed to 10/4 and 33/5 as Henry and Foulkes continued to work together with the new ball, dismissing Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell, respectively. After falling one behind in the 12th over, Sam Curran became Foulkes’s fourth wicket of the match.
Jamie Overton joined Brook in a stand that saved the innings after Brook had begun to fan the flames of a counterattack a few overs earlier.
Despite all the chaos, Brook quickly made his intentions known when he sped to a fifty off a streaking top-edged six in the 16th over, scoring 36 balls. Overton pursued Jacob Duffy, content to toss his bat around as well. Overton was fine after a brief rest after taking a blow to his headgear from a Nathan Smith bouncer. Before being beaten by a slower one from Duffy, he and Brook managed to drag their stand past the halfway point. A leading edge went to Daryl Mitchell at cover as he attempted to work the ball on the leg side, sending him back for a crucial 46 off 54 deliveries.
On the following ball, Duffy caught Brydon Carse at backward point for a duck, snuffing him out. England’s defeat appeared imminent at 143/8, but Brook was not finished. Adil Rashid was with him when he hit Duffy for a four and a six. He then had a partnership with No. 11 Luke Wood for 57 runs.
Wood had to deal with only four delivery during the 32 deliveries that made up that alliance. Brook managed the strike effectively, finishing with 135 off 101 after starting with 85 off 73 when Rashid was dismissed. The 32nd over saw him smash three sixes off Duffy, and the Henry over saw him smash three more. He hit Smith with another six to bring his total to eleven. The innings ended on 223 when he mistimed his slog sweep while trying to reach 12th off a flung up delivery from Mitchell Santner.
During the first hour of the pursuit, that objective appeared much larger than it actually was. New Zealand didn’t enjoy the luxuries of having Tom Latham and Kane Williamson back for very long. Brydon Carse gave Williamson a first-ball duck in the second over after dismissing Will Young. After that, Wood pulled a ball away from the left-hander and got Rachin Ravindra to nick it. Carse trapped Latham leg before in the 12th over, leaving New Zealand in a precarious situation at 66 for 4, despite Latham’s quick start of three fours early on.
In response, Mitchell and Michael Bracewell scored 92 runs between them, each reaching their fifties. Despite their cautious start, the two placed England under strain after the drinks break by hitting at least one boundary in three consecutive overs. Despite breaking the partnership in the 27th over, they strengthened the chase for 15 overs to make it unachievable by England. Bracewell tried to steal a quick single but fell against the flow of play and was run out an over after both reached their fifties.
Mitchell Santner entered the game and once again made it clear. Boundaries appeared more often during this stand between Santner and Mitchell. The team reached 200 as Santner smacked two sixes off Adil Rashid. Rashid gave Santner a wrong ‘un to end his cameo in the same over. For a 27 off 25 balls, he left. With a four off Rashid twelve balls later, Mitchell helped New Zealand cross the finish line.
India
