The blitzkrieg continued at Trent Bridge. There was seldom any shelter for bowlers and this time it was the English batsmen who enjoyed themselves the most. England had never chased more than 295 successfully in this country – against Pakistan in 2010 – but here they sped to their target of 350 with barely a tremor and with seven wickets and six overs to spare.
Eoin Morgan, the victorious captain, was delighted. “We are surprising ourselves at the moment,” he said. “It won’t be like this every game and to beat this New Zealand side we will have to be at our best.” The series is level at 2-2 and will be decided in the last game, at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.
Morgan cannot quite explain the transformation since the World Cup. “We were terrible then. Andrew Strauss has allowed me an opportunity to take on the role [as captain] and I’m very happy about that.” One of the problems then was that Morgan could barely score a run. Now he is batting better than ever. Another factor is that England have been playing on great batting surfaces. Apart from Luke Ronchi, every batsman who made it to the middle at Trent Bridge revelled in the experience. Apart from Mark Wood and Steven Finn, every bowler felt only exasperation.
The critical innings were delivered by Englishmen unrecognisable from the World Cup. Alex Hales smashed 67 from 38 balls at the top of the order. At one point he hit 45 runs from 12 balls despite there being a rain break between those two overs. With Jason Roy a willing ally, 100 runs were added for the first wicket in 10.4 overs. Hales flicked off his hip and the ball kept sailing deep into packed stands.
But even Hales would be overshadowed as Morgan cracked 113 from 82 balls, which meant England’s pursuit was incredibly stress-free. Morgan cannot set the tone any better than this. He has always been a streaky player but now the force is with him again. Those wristy drives are sending the ball a very long way. Here there were five more sixes; in total he has hit 16 in the series.
Meanwhile Joe Root remains in princely form. He was able to stick to relative orthodoxy, but the timing and placement of his drives was close to perfection and he seems to have developed a cut shot with an element of top spin just to ensure that the ball speeds away from diving fieldsmen. He cruised to his sixth ODI century and a potentially arduous chase became a romp.
Perhaps the Kiwis were too conservative with the bat, though this is a charge that does not sit comfortably with Kane Williamson. He demonstrated once more that deft, refined strokeplay can get the scoreboard buzzing just as frantically as blacksmith biffs. His 90 occupied only 70 balls but there was hardly a brutal stroke among the 13 boundaries he struck.
He had a sound base from which to work. Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill added 88 in 13 overs after New Zealand had won the toss. McCullum threatened without delivering mayhem, which has been the pattern throughout the series. He produced just one trademark sizzling drive off Finn which went for six over mid-off. But then the extra bounce generated by Wood found him edging to the keeper.
Guptill harvested most of his runs through mid-wicket before becoming victim to a brilliant catch by Finn. He mis-hit a slower ball from Ben Stokes high into the sky. Finn at mid-on was required to sprint hard to his right. No doubt the ball was bobbing up and down as if in a pinball machine as he tried to locate it, as the wind kept pushing it further and further out of reach. With superb athleticism Finn kept his balance and composure and caught the ball, a breathtaking piece of fielding seldom emulated by England, who remain fallible in the field. Four chances went begging, most of them tricky. But this was one of those rare days when the drops did not decide the outcome.
Often Ross Taylor was the beneficiary of those slips and, alongside Williamson, another 100-run partnership was recorded.
As usual, Taylor was the less fluent partner but that is likely to be the lot of anyone who bats with Williamson at the moment. As at Southampton, he tormented Adil Rashid with gentle ruthlessness on his way past 3,000 runs in ODI cricket.
It was not until the powerplay that England imposed any pressure. Taylor was lbw to a slower ball from Finn, who proceeded to bowl with menace and control against the new batsman, Grant Elliott. Wood, with a very different method, was equally impressive during this period. Currently this pair are the most likely to join the senior citizens, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, in the first Test squad for the Ashes.
However, New Zealand were able to recover momentum in the end, belting 66 in their final five overs. This acceleration was assisted by Morgan’s decision to give Rashid the 48th over, which went for 28 runs, all smashed by Mitchell Santner.
This was not funky captaincy; it was foolhardy. But by the end of a raucous Trent Bridge evening Morgan could do no wrong. His players will be the ones skipping up to Chester-le-Street for the decider with the greater spring in their steps.
