Finally, NZ has a win over Poms

NEW Zealand enjoyed a rare sporting victory over England yesterday when it won the second Twenty20 cricket international by 21 runs to level the five-match series at 1-1.

Poor catching cost England dearly as New Zealand made 8-176 after being asked to bat while Colin de Grandhomme held four catches and Martin Guptill two as England was all out for 155 in the 20th over.

Guptill made a partial return to form, scoring 41 from 28 balls at the top of the order — his highest score in his past 14 limited-overs innings. De Grandhomme dashed 28 from 12 balls in the middle of the innings and Jimmy Neesham, in his first T20 international in almost two years, hit 42 from 22 balls near the end.

New Zealand was aided by England’s poor fielding. James Vince, who scored an impressive half-century in the first game of the series which England won by seven wickets, dropped two straightforward catches and missed one harder chance.

Other chances went down as New Zealand vastly improved on its batting performance in the first match of the series when it made an inadequate 5-153.

Gutpill’s innings, which included three fours and two sixes, set it off at a faster pace than i t achieved i n Friday’s series opener when it was tied down by brothers Tom and Sam Curran, who shared the new ball for England.

Contributions from the bighitting De Grandhomme and Neesham allowed New Zealand to reach a competitive total.

New Zealand then made use of local knowledge in its bowling approach and field settings when England replied.

The Wellington Regional Stadium has strange dimensions, short square boundaries but long straight boundaries and the Black Caps made good use of those qualities.

By forcing England to hit straight in windy conditions, they set up the catches which de Grandhomme and Guptill shared.