New Zealand pulls off a thriller in Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand - New Zealand pulled off a remarkable heist to defend 180 in the third T20I at Nelson, as England lost five for ten in 18 balls after needing 42 off 5.2 overs with eight wickets in hand to lose by 14 runs.
After setting a score that looked something like par, primarily thanks to the impetus provided by Colin de Grandhomme's 35-ball 55 in the middle overs, New Zealand's bowlers proved expensive on a small ground, as Dawid Malan and James Vince accelerated through the middle overs to put England in pole position.
But after Eoin Morgan dragged the final ball of Mitchell Santner's spell to deep midwicket, England only managed to hit one boundary in the final five overs of the innings to throw away a winning position and go 1-2 down in the five-match series. On 55, Malan whacked a shin-high full toss from Ish Sodhi straight to cow corner with England cruising, before Vince picked out mid-off in the circle on 49.
England had started its chase with a bang: debutant Tom Banton creamed the third ball his faced through the covers for four off Tim Southee.
He then bludgeoned Lockie Ferguson over midwicket for six and then deftly nudged him for four through third man, but an attempted ramp off Blair Tickner proved his undoing, as he was bowled for 18.
Malan moved through the gears before crunching Jimmy Neesham for six over midwicket and following that with a supreme cover-drive.
But after dinking Santner for four two balls after bringing up his fifty, he slapped Sodhi straight down the throat of Guptill at cow corner.
Vince punished some loose balls from Santner and Tickner, but after Morgan fell and Billings was run out. Ferguson accounted for Lewis Gregory and Sam Curran in the space of an over, and with an uncharacteristically long tail, England was bust despite a lusty blow over midwicket from Tom Curran as Southee closed out the final over.
After Southee won his first toss of the series, Martin Guptill's 17-ball cameo kickstarted things for New Zealand. He hit three fours off the Curran brothers in the first two overs, before punishing Saqib Mahmood's by firing boundaries off his first three balls.
But Pat Brown removed Guptill as he skewed up to extra cover where Tom Curran held a good catch running back.
De Grandhomme ensured that New Zealand avoided a middle-overs lull by carving Mahmood's second over for 15.
Matt Parkinson struck with his fifth ball on debut, bowling the reverse-slog-sweeping Tim Seifert through his legs. De Grandhomme picked two Brown slower balls to keep the innings moving in the 13th, while consecutive no-balls from Gregory and a six from the free hit saw New Zealand reached 133 for three.
Tom Curran's change-up accounted for de Grandhomme and none of Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham and Santner ever really got set as England's youngsters displayed their full range of variations to concede only 47 from the final 36 balls.