KIWIS FIGHT BACK TO LEVEL THE SERIES

ANYTHING England can do, New Zealand can do almost just as well. After Eoin Morgan’s side got the ball rolling with a ridiculous 408 for nine at Edgbaston on Tuesday, the tourists hit back with 398 for five to level the series. Yet even that monstrous total — the highest-ever conceded by England — looked under threat as Morgan and Jos Buttler took a spirited reply to 259 for four in the 33rd over. At that point England might even have been very slight favourites. However, Buttler was caught behind off Trent Boult for 41 and Morgan fell within sight of England’s fastest one-day century, carving Mitchell McClenaghan to deep cover to depart for a quite brilliant 88 from 47 balls. When Sam Billings cut Boult to backward point in the next over, England were 275 for seven with only 13.5 overs to go. The game seemed over. Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett, though, had other ideas. As rain moved in from the south east, the Yorkshire team-mates began to run New Zealand ragged once more. By the time the weather took hold, they had taken the total to 345. England — 10 behind on Duckworth/Lewis — needed 54 off 37 balls with three wickets in hand. That was adjusted to 34 off 13, which felt a tougher equation. Plunkett smashed Nathan McCullum for six but fell two deliveries later, before Rashid was superbly caught by Boult after Tim Southee intercepted a lofted straight-drive and threw the ball back into play as he skipped over the boundary. Twenty-four off Grant Elliott’s last over was beyond England’s last pair, but they can travel to Southampton for the third match of this five-game series on Sunday with their pride very much intact. Each member of their frontline attack endured his costliest analysis in one-day internationals, while Chris Jordan went for 97 in nine overs. And New Zealand, inspired by Ross Taylor’s beefy 119 not out from 96 balls, ended up with their highest one-day score against a fellow Test nation.