Stokes strikes in return

ALL-ROUNDER Ben Stokes’s return to the England cricket team yesterday after a five-month absence was overshadowed by a century from Ross Taylor that guided New Zealand to a three-wicket win with four balls to spare in the first one-day international.

Stokes contributed 12 runs from 22 balls to England’s total of 5-284 as it batted first after winning the toss. Jos Buttler made 79, Joe Root 71 and Jason Roy 49 to ensure England put up a competitive total on a relatively slow pitch.

But Stokes made a more significant contribution in the field, claiming a catch, taking 2-43 from eight overs and most notably breaking the 178run partnership between Taylor, who made 113, and Tom Latham (79) that bridged the gap between the teams.

New Zealand was 3-27 when Stokes took a catch from Chris Woakes’s bowling to dismiss Martin Guptill (13), only three balls after captain Kane Williamson (8) fell at the same score. Taylor reached his 18th century in one-day internationals, surpassing 7000 runs in the 50-over format as he did so, and Latham passed 2000 runs in a pivotal partnership.

When Stokes had Latham caught by Joe Root at 4-205 with 10.1 overs remaining, England was confident it was back in the match.

New Zealand came to the last over needing nine runs and achieved them when Santner took a streaky boundary from Chris Woakes, allowed a wide to go past, then smashed the third ball for six.