The third and final T20I is in Auckland on Thursday, with the match starting at 7.15pm local time/7.15am BST. I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton’s report from Hagley Oval – goodnight and good day to you.
Harry Brook puts his captaincy hat on for another quick chat
We’ve been good at taking wickets since the start of my captaincy, and to get another 10 there was awesome.
[On Rashid and Dawson] They’re extremely experienced. It’s warming to just be able to say, ‘Lads, you go and do your thing’. The odds weren’t really in Daws’s favour, bowling four overs in a row with a lot of balls to the left-handers and the wind howling towards the leg side, but he was phenomenal and that gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.
[On the detail of England’s field placing] There were a couple of shots that were plinked into the leg side and probably wouldn’t have carried if the fielder had been right on the rope. It’s another positive move towards taking wickets.
Mitchell Santner's verdict
The pitch was flatter than the other night and England were very smart with the bat – they hit to the short side and got a lot of twos to the long side.
You need a lot of things to go your way [to chase 237]. You need a good Powerplay so losing early wickets made it harder.
The player of the match is Harry Brook
It felt good – it’s always nice to contribute and it was good to do it alongside Salty, who’s been very successful for us in this new era.
We thought there was more live grass on the pitch on Saturday. The sun’s probably helped us out and made it a bit flatter.
It was nice to get a few runs out there and hit a few out of the park.
[Did you have a favourite shot?] Probably the one off Mitch off the back foot. [Looks across and laughs] Sorry Mitch!
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England are fast becoming a very dangerous T20 team. They don’t have the consistency of the world’s best, and we shouldn’t get carried away, but performances like this confirm that, in the parlance of our time, they have an extremely high ceiling.
They romped to victory despite losing the toss, which is often a problem at Hagley Oval. Phil Salt top-scored with 85 but the most eye-catching performance came from Harry Brook, who pinged five sixes in a joyful 35-ball 78.
England’s 236 for 4 smashed the record for the highest T20I score on this ground. New Zealand playing catch-up from ball one, even more so when Brydon Carse struck twice in the second over of their chase. Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson feasted on the middle order, taking six wickets between them, and Luke Wood touched up his figures with a couple at the death.
ENGLAND WIN BY 65 RUNS
WICKET! New Zealand 171 all out (Duffy c Brook b Wood 1) That’ll do. Jacob Duffy clunks Wood to mid-off and is well caught by Brook. All 10 wickets were out caught, a reflection of the pressure England put on New Zealand with such a huge score.
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WICKET! New Zealand 169-9 (Henry c Bethell b Wood 0)
Nearly done. Matt Henry goes for a golden duck, cracking Luke Wood straight to Bethell at deep midwicket.
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17th over: New Zealand 164-8 (Jamieson 2, Henry 0) Rashid finishes with figures of 4-0-32-4. Not quite a career best (he took 4 for 2 against West Indies at the 2021 World Cup) but a typically engaging spell.
“Rashid demonstrating again how overhyped he is,” says Brian Withington, “and that he brings barely nothing to this side apart from the occasional wicket. He often can’t even be arsed to bat!”
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WICKET! New Zealand 164-8 (Santner c Curran b Rashid 36)
Adil Rashid signs off with his fourth wicket when Santner hoicks straight to Curran at deep backward square.
WICKET! New Zealand 161-7 (Neesham c Banton b Rashid 16)
Neesham fetches Rashid’s googly high to long on, where Banton steadies himself to take a comfortable catch. Three wickets for Rashid, who needs six more to become the fifth man to reach 150 in T20Is. Oh what fun we’ve had watching him.
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16th over: New Zealand 158-6 (Neesham 16, Santner 35) Curran returns to the attack. Santner is dropped over the rope by Banton at long-off. It was a fine shot and Banton had a job on to stop the six, never mind take the catch.
Santner whirls Curran for four to bring up the fifty partnership in only 21 balls, with Santner’s contribution an eyecatching 35 from 12. I don’t think New Zealand are still in this game, but their captain Santner has at least ensured they won’t be completely hammered.
“Hi Rob,” says Gary Naylor. “It’s sometimes said that an advantage of T20s is that, if they’re one-sided, at least they’re over quickly. Not always...”
15th over: New Zealand 144-6 (Neesham 16, Santner 23) Nine from Carse’s over, a good effort that should close the door completely on New Zealand. They need 93 from 30 balls.
14th over: New Zealand 135-6 (Neesham 7, Santner 23) Santner swipes his fellow left-armer Dawson down the ground for six, the start of a weirdly shambolic end to a previously superb spell. The last three deliveries of his spell cost 20 runs, including five wides and another six from Santner.
Dawson finishes with 4-0-38-2; despite that last over, it’s been a good night for him.
13th over: New Zealand 112-6 (Neesham 5, Santner 8) England won’t be favourites for next year’s T20 World Cup, not even close. But the quality of their two spinners, the freedom and power of their batting and the existence of Jofra Archer makes them very dangerous opposition. In fact you can probably make a case for England being the new Pakistan.
WICKET! New Zealand 104-6 (Mitchell c Salt b Rashid 9)
Adil Rashid gets his second when Daryl Mitchell slog-sweeps a slower, flighted delivery into the hands of Salt at deep midwicket. This is turning into a rout.
12th over: New Zealand 100-5 (Mitchell 5, Neesham 5) Dawson has bowled expertly to the left-handers tonight. But Jimmy Neeshaw lands a blow for the southpaws with a lusty clump through midwicket for four.
New Zealand need snookers 137 from 48 balls.
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WICKET! New Zealand 94-5 (Bracewell c Banton b Rashid 2)
England’s spin twins, combined age 72, are making a mess of the New Zealand innings. The left-handed Bracewell mishits a wide delivery from Dawson towards long-off and is excellently caught by Tom Banton.
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11th over: New Zealand 91-4 (Mitchell 2, Bracewell 0) Mitchell smears a slow legbreak back at Rashid, who drops a tough chance leaping to his left.
“I may now live a lot closer to New Zealand than the Black Country but my mind automatically goes to Hagley in the West Midlands, rather than the one currently hosting this match,” writes Phil Withall. “I do feel that the Kiwis would stand a better chance chasing on that ground than this...”
WICKET! New Zealand 91-4 (Seifert c Cox b Rashid 39)
What kind of idiot would doubt Adil Rashid? He takes his first wicket of the game when Seifert top-edges a slog-sweep and is safely pouched by Cox at long-on. Cox didn’t get a bat but that’s his third catch of the innings.
10th over: New Zealand 90-3 (Seifert 39, Mitchell 2) In the context of such a high-scoring game, Dawson’s figures are 2-0-9-1 are mighty fine.
New Zealand need 14.7 per over. Yeah.
WICKET! New Zealand 87-3 (Chapman c Cox b Dawson 28)
Excellent bowling from Liam Dawson. His tactic of angling the ball across the left-handed Chapman from around the wicket pays off when Chapman drags a big shot to long-on. Jordan Cox makes an awkward low catch look easy and Chapman is on his way from 28 from 24 balls.
9th over: New Zealand 86-2 (Seifert 38, Chapman 28) For the second time tonight, a good over from Curran is ruined by a six off the last ball. This time Seifert pulled a high full toss into the crowd; it was a no-ball on height, meaning an extra delivery, but Curran managed to avoid further damage by zipping it through to the keeper.
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8th over: New Zealand 75-2 (Seifert 31, Chapman 26) Liam Dawson, England’s junior spinner at the age of 35, replaces Sam Curran. His first over is a triumph of experience and economy: three singles, one two, no boundaries.
New Zealand need 162 from 72 balls. I mean, it’s possible.
7th over: New Zealand 70-2 (Seifert 30, Chapman 22) Pull up a pew: Adil Rashid is coming into the attack. We should savour every spell, because he’s 37 years old and it’ll be a long time before England have a spinner of his brilliance in any format.
Seifert pings a fabulous slog-sweep over midwicket and out of the ground. As I said all along, Rashid is wildly overrated. That six brings up a promising fifty partnership from 32 balls. There’s still a lot of work to do but they’ve kept New Zealand in the game after a difficult start to the innings.
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6th over: New Zealand 60-2 (Seifert 22, Chapman 20) Sam Curran comes on for Brydon Carse. It’s less than three years since he was the player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup for his bowling; now Curran is very much a batter who bowls in this format.
Seifert picks a slower ball and smears it through midwicket for four. Curran goes through his variations to good effect… until Chapman drives his final delivery straight down the ground for six. Gorgeous shot.
5th over: New Zealand 48-2 (Seifert 17, Chapman 13) Chapman pumps Wood straight down the ground for four, then flicks stylishly off the hip for three.
Wood is a big threat when the new ball swings. Tonight’s it’s doing nothing and New Zealand are going after him. Seifert muscles two more boundaries through midwicket – one orthodox, one straight – to make it 15 from the over.
New Zealand need 189 from 90 balls. Try explaining that to SF Barnes while you’re at it.
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4th over: New Zealand 33-2 (Seifert 9, Chapman 6) A second Carse no-ball goes unpunished. Chapman makes contact with the free hit this time but can only cloth the ball back to the bowler.
In fact both batters are unable to time the ball throughout a really good second over, the no-ball aside, from Carse.
3rd over: New Zealand 28-2 (Seifert 7, Chapman 4) Wood’s second over starts with another boundary, tucked off the hip by Seifert, but he recovers impressively to concede only a leg-bye from the last five deliveries.
2nd over: New Zealand 23-2 (Seifert 3, Chapman 4) Mark Chapman steers his first ball past slip for four. It’s a no-ball too, though Carse turns the free hit into a free miss by ramming a short ball through to the keeper.
Brydon Carse’s bowling figures belong very much to the T20 age: 1-0-13-2. Imagine trying to explain those bowling figures to SF Barnes at his most crotchety.
WICKET! New Zealand 18-2 (Ravindra c Buttler b Carse 8)
Another wicket for Carse! After hitting his first two balls for four, Rachin Ravindra snicks a drive through to Jos Buttler and is on his way for eight from three balls. Eight from three balls!
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WICKET! New Zealand 10-1 (Robinson c Cox b Carse 7)
Brydon Carse loves bowling in New Zealand. He was sensational in last winter’s Test series and he has struck with his first ball tonight. Robinson tried a clip to leg but lobbed the ball tamely to Jordan Cox at mid-on.
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1st over: New Zealand 10-0 (Seifert 3, Robinson 7) Tim Robinson belabours his second ball down the ground for six. Ten from the over, so New Zealand are already behind the rate.
Only a short break – the players are back and Luke Wood has the ball.
Half-time reading
New Zealand need 237 to win
Well that was fun. Phil Salt and especially Harry Brook played some spectacular strokes as England obliterated the record for the highest T20I score on this ground. It’s a seriously good pitch, though, so New Zealand aren’t out of the game.
20th over: England 236-4 (Curran 8, Banton 29) Early days but Tom Banton is looking really good in this new role of finisher. He backs away to guide Duffy to the right of short third for four, a superb stroke from a ball that followed him outside leg stump.
That’s the only boundary – but a flurry of twos make it 13 from the over and Banton finishes with 29 not out from 12 balls.
19th over: England 223-4 (Curran 7, Banton 19) Tom Banton slices Henry past short third for four, making this the highest T2oI score at Hagley Oval. He belts 14 from the next three deliveries as well, including a sweet six over midwicket. It’s all fun and games till some poor sucker looks at his bowling figures; Henry finishes with 4-0-45-0.
We’ve seen 23 fours and 10 sixes in this innings. And no bloody forward defensives.
18th over: England 205-4 (Curran 7, Banton 1) Sam Curran thumps the last ball over Jamieson’s spell down the ground for six. It only just cleared the leaping Daryl Mitchell on the boundary but, well, it did.
WICKET! England 198-4 (Salt c Bracewell b Jamieson 85)
They’re dropping like flies. Salt thumps Jamieson backs over his head and is taken by Bracewell just inside the rope. The catch itself was straightforward but he did superbly not to stand on – or topple over – the boundary sponge.
WICKET! England 197-3 (Brook c Robinson b Jamieson 78)
Tim Robinson blows that theory out of the water, taking a superb catch to get rid of Harry Brook. He pulled a slower ball from Jamieson to deep midwicket, where Robinson dived forward to take an excellently judged catch.
Brook is on his way after a riotously entertaining innings: 78 from 35 balls with six fours and five sixes.
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17th over: England 196-2 (Salt 84, Brook 78) New Zealand have managed to slow England down in the last few minutes. After 10 balls without a boundary – an age in this game – Brook reaches to lift Duffy over extra cover.
“Is it just me or does Brook get dropped more than any other batter?” says Phil Harrison. “Can it be just a coincidence? Or is it because he simply hits it so hard?”
It feels that way, doesn’t it? I’d imagine it’s a combination of how hard he hits the ball and fielders tensing up because they are so desperate to get rid of him. A similar thing happened when England dropped Adam Gilchrist four times at Lord’s in 2001.
16th over: England 186-2 (Salt 80, Brook 73) Never mind the biggest total on this ground, England could break the record for the highest score both against and in New Zealand. Australia made 245 for 5 at Auckland in 2017-18.
They manage nine from Santner’s final over, with Salt pulling his 11th four, so that means they need 60 from 24 balls. Not that Salt and Brook will know, or care; they’re just trying to belt every ball for six.
15th over: England 177-2 (Salt 74, Brook 70) Brook picks a slower ball from Jamieson and uses his devastating handspeed to lash it over long-on. That’s gone out of the ground as well.
Later in the over Brook plays a most disappointing stroke, pulling a six that doesn’t go out of the ground. But seriously folks, this is about as entertaining as Monday mornings* get; Brook is 70 not out from 28 balls after dumping four more over mid-off to end the over.
* UK time.
Brook smashes 22-ball half-century
14th over: England 156-2 (Salt 74, Brook 50) Santner brings himself on in an attempt to restore some order. And he’s only gone and done it! Six from the over, none in boundaries. But Brook does work a single to bring up a coruscating fifty: 22 balls, 4x4, 3x6.
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13th over: England 150-2 (Salt 70, Brook 48) Brook is dropped by Neesham off Henry, a relatively straightforward running chance at long on.
There’s never a good time to drop Harry Brook, but tonight looks particularly bad. Brook is timing the ball like a dream and has hared to 48 from 20 balls; he ends the over by launching a slower ball from Henry over midwicket and out of the ground. Goodness me.
12th over: England 138-2 (Salt 67, Brook 39) Mitch Santner throws the ball to Jimmy Neesham, who never did take up baking or something.
England show him no respect, not even a scintilla, striking four fours in a 20-run over. Three were hit by Brook, including a spectacular ping over cover from an attempted yorker. It may have been a free hit – Neesham bowled a front-foot no-ball – but the skill level was stratospheric.
Brook has raced 39 from 16 balls and is looking dangerously dangerous.
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11th over: England 118-2 (Salt 62, Brook 25) Jamieson overpitches and is blazed over mid-off by Salt. He couldn’t make a fifth T20I century, could he? The rest of England’s entire male population have only scored four between them.
“In his post earlier, Simon spoke of it being a weeknight,” writes Robert Lewis. “That word always conjures up for me the vision of a tiny armoured man on a horse. Apropos of nothing at all...”
And there I was thinking of how weary Nick would have been at the end of the flippin’ murder Test in Zimbabwe.
10th over: England 110-2 (Salt 56, Brook 23) Time for the drinks break. It’s been a helluva start for England, who have a chance of making the highest score in a T20I on this ground. The current record is 208 for 5, made by New Zealand against Bangladesh in 2022.
Brook is not out! Nothing on UltraEdge as the ball passes bat and then glove, so Brook bats on.
England review! Brook tries to pull a leg-side delivery from Bracewell and is given out caught behind. He reviews straight away and there’s a long wait for UltraEdge. It’s either a wide or a wicket…
Another fifty for Phil Salt
9.1 overs: England 101-2 (Salt 50, Brook 21) Salt clips Bracewell for two to reach a 33-ball fifty, his seventh in T20 internationals to go with those four hundreds.
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9th over: England 99-2 (Salt 49, Brook 21) Brook launches his opposite number Santner onto the roof at wide long-on, an outrageous stroke played with a flamingo flourish at the end. His trusty rollover ramp brings four more next ball – and then he cuffs an even bigger six over midwicket when Santner drops short. “Harry Brook has entered the chat!” chirps somebody in the commentary box.
Brook was 3 not out from 3 balls; he now has 21 from 7.
8th over: England 80-2 (Salt 48, Brook 3) A quieter second over from Bracewell: no wickets but no boundaries either.
7th over: England 75-2 (Salt 46, Brook 0) The seventh over is Santner time. He starts pretty economically, conceding seven runs, with one boundary through backward point for Salt. He’s off on one again: 46 not out from 27 balls.
I’m not sure us England fans really how lucky we are to have Phil Salt. His T20I record is outrageous: average 39, strike rate 169. And in the last two years those figures are 48 and 175.
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6th over: England 68-2 (Salt 39, Brook 0) That was a fun innings from Bethell, 24 from 12 balls.
Since you asked, it should be Ollie Pope at Perth. You’re welcome.
WICKET! England 68-2 (Bethell c Neesham b Bracewell 24)
Mitch Santner gambles by introducing the spin of Michael Bracewell for the last over of the Powerplay. It works, sort of: Bracewell concedes 21 from the over but picks up the dangerous Jacob Bethell with his last ball.
Bethell hit consecutive sixes down the ground and was looking for a third when he dragged to mid-on. It was nicely bowled by Bracewell, wider and slower, and Bethell shouted “oh no!” the moment he made contact.
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5th over: England 47-1 (Salt 31, Bethell 12) Bethell tries to pull Duffy, is beaten for pace and top-edges the ball precisely 500 miles in the air. The ball swirls horribly and is dropped by the keeper Tim Seifert, who ran too far and had to reach back in an attempt to take the catch. All he could do was punch the ball onto the side of his face.
Bethell, who hit his first boundary before being dropped, makes room outside leg stump to muscle his second over mid-on. Fine shot.
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4th over: England 37-1 (Salt 30, Bethell 4) Bethell almost wipes out the square-leg umpire with a pull shot off the new bowler Kyle Jamieson. The umpire saw it late – there’s a low evening sun – but managed to save face, and his face, by ducking at the last minute. “That’s one way to get the heart rate up!” says Frankie Mackay, the former White Fern, on commentary.
After a promising start – five from five balls – Jamieson strays onto Salt’s pads and is put away for four.
3rd over: England 28-1 (Salt 23, Bethell 1) Nothing much to report in Henry’s second over, four runs from it.
2nd over: England 24-1 (Salt 20, Bethell 0) Duffy dug that wicket ball in short, which meant it hit high on the bat as Buttler came charging at him. Nicely bowled if he meant it.
WICKET! England 24-1 (Buttler c Santner b Duffy 4)
This Hagley Oval pitch looks better for batting than on Saturday. Salt climbs into a wide ball from Jacob Duffy, blasting it square on the off side for four, then top-edges a pull over the keeper’s head for another boundary.
After getting off the mark with a sizzling drive over cover for four, Buttler charges Duffy and clunks the ball high to Santner at mid-off. He has to wait near the boundary edge while they check for a no-ball. It’s very tight, and the angles aren’t great, but the third umpire decides it’s a fair delivery and Buttler is on his way.
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1st over: England 11-0 (Salt 11, Buttler 0) Phil Salt sets the agenda by clouting Henry’s second ball over midwicket for six. I mean, why wouldn’t you? A drag behind square brings four more off the next ball. Good start for England.
And… action
The weather is lovely at the moment, as Simon said, and the brilliant Matt Henry is about to open the bowling.
Evening/morning/whatever. Tonight might be a near-replay of Saturday - same teams, same result at the toss, same decision made, equally lovely early evening and an equally dismal forecast for later. Looks like the rain might hold off until 11pm or so, allowing us to get a full game in, but you never know. Definitely a smaller crowd, what with it being a weeknight and everything, but Hagley Oval is looking resplendent in the early evening sun and with my optimistic hat as ever lodged in place it’s hard not to be a bit gleeful at what we’ve got in store.
Team news
Both sides are unchanged. Next!
New Zealand Seifert (wk), Robinson, Ravindra, Chapman, Mitchell, Bracewell, Neesham, Santner (c), Jamieson, Henry, Duffy.
England Salt, Buttler (wk), Bethell, Brook (c), Banton, S Curran, Cox, Carse, Dawson, Rashid, L Wood.
New Zealand win the toss and bowl
It worked pretty well on Saturday, so whoever won the toss was always going to bowl first.
Erm, about that Christchurch weather forecast
Turns out opinions vary, and we may be looking at another rain-ruined game. It’s the height of spring in New Zealand, what did you expect man!
Sam Curran’s intelligent unbeaten 49 was the main positive for England in the first game. “He’s going to be around for a while, I think,” said his captain Harry Brook after the game.
Preamble
Hello, hello and welcome to live, over-by-over coverage of the second T20 international between New Zealand and England in Christchurch. The first match on Saturday was abandoned because it’s the height of spring in New Zealand, what did you bloody expect man rain, but the forecast is better tonight and we should get a full game.
The match starts at 7.15pm local time, 7.15am BST, and we’ll have the toss and team news around half an hour before that. But first, coffee.
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