England arrive desperate to restart Twenty20 campaign
"The beauty of a tri-series is we still have a chance to make the final." Stand-in England skipper Jos Buttler
England flew to rain-soaked Wellington with fitness concerns over their captain Eoin Morgan, amid a
Twenty20 batting slump starting to mirror New Zealand’s.
Tomorrow night’s tri-series cricket match at Westpac Stadium carries an extra edge after Australia cantered past England on Saturday to book their spot in the February 21 final in Auckland.
In a rematch of the 2016 World
T20 semifinal which England won by seven wickets in Delhi, the losing side face an uphill battle to claw their way to Eden Park for the decider. Australia, meanwhile, the Big Bash all-stars, suddenly look the best T20 side in world cricket.
Both sides face a rushed buildup for what looks an evenlymatched contest. New Zealand arrived in dribs and drabs yesterday after numerous flight cancellations due to fog, which saw their scheduled practice session cancelled.
England, too, will get a solitary session today after crossing the Tasman following a seven-wicket defeat in Melbourne, defending just 137-7, which ended their mammoth stint in Australia.
‘‘The beauty of a tri-series is we still have a chance to make the final,’’ stand-in skipper Jos Buttler said.
‘‘It will be a nice change of scene in New Zealand. We haven’t showcased our ability as we can, and there are guys who are determined to come back strong.’’
They may have to do so without Morgan, who was a late scratching at the MCG due to what was described as a groin niggle. ‘‘I don’t think we quite know the extent of it yet so we’ll wait and find out,’’ said Buttler.
In the left-hander’s absence England’s batting was unimpressive on a tricky MCG surface against Australia’s varied and accurate attack which skittled New Zealand for 117-9 in Sydney.
Power openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales departed early which saw momentum grind to a halt. Buttler, one of world cricket’s most feared hitters, managed 46 off 49 balls at No 5 including just three fours. Dawid Malan was run out brilliantly by David Warner and fellow test player James Vince struggled to generate a strike rate in Morgan’s spot.
‘‘Losing three early poles, I felt the best way was to then take some balls and kick on at the end, but that never really happened,’’ Buttler said.
‘‘I struggled, I was trying hard and it didn’t manage to work. I was hoping to be better than a runa-ball with five overs to go and then really kick on, but it never happened. I’ll have to improve and look at where I went wrong.’’
Despite losing Warner early, Australia’s power-packed top-four of D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell were untroubled to guide them home with 33 balls to spare.
In Hobart three days earlier, England also struggled to score enough runs, posting 155-9 on the way to a five-wicket defeat.
New Zealand re-assemble with similar concerns to England over their middle order after three successive T20 defeats, with two new faces Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert summoned to address it.
Chapman will likely bat four and Seifert seven in the New Zealand order, with two of the top-four Super Smash runscorers injected for Tom Bruce and Tom Blundell to add punch either side of the inform Colin de Grandhomme.
Showers are forecast for today as both sides hope to train at the Basin Reserve, while match day
(7pm start) is predicted to be fine and clear with a maximum of
23degC.