England vs New Zealand 1st ODI: Southee and Guptill overpower England

England 227/9 (Southee 3-37) lost to New Zealand 231/5 (Guptill 103* Taylor 54 Anderson 3-31) by 5 wickets

Alastair Cook would have been satisfied with England’s performance in Test series as that was Cook’s first Series victory at home. Although he made a mess of the toss, his bowlers were instrumental in England clinching the Test series 2-0. Perhaps he thought that the same thing would be happening in ODI series and it did not happen as his batsmen failed to make substantial contribution in first ODI. Despite having a formidable pace-attack, they were not given enough runs to defend on a perfect batting strip.

Alastair Cook and Ian Bell opened the batting for England. They started cautiously as the ball was moving both ways. Kyle Mills and McCleanaghan bowled a tidy opening spell as they had England on the ropes at 22/0 after 7 overs. McCullum thought that it was the perfect time to bring his strike bowler Tim Southee. Tim Southee responded to his captain’s call as he got rid of the dangerous Ian Bell for 18. Alastair Cook soon followed Ian Bell as he was deceived by the seam movement and eventually was caught behind for 30 (45).

Jonathan Trott and Joe Root re-constructed the innings as the duo put on a constructive partnership of 66 runs for the third wicket. But Jonathan Trott and Joe Root were struggling for momentum. Brendon McCullum shuffled his bowlers brilliantly and didn’t allow the batsmen to settle down. Once the Power Play was over, he brought Nathan McCullum into the attack to tighten the screws. Nathan McCullum bowled pretty well as he maintained tight line and length and did not offer enough room for the batsmen to free his arms.

But when Brendon McCullum brought James Franklin in the 21^st over, it shifted the gears for England as Jonathan Trott did not allow James Franklin to settle in. He smashed his first delivery for four through cover region. He smoked his third delivery for a beautiful four through midwicket to build the pressure on James Franklin. He wasn’t accurate with his line and length as he was constantly drifting the ball to the leg side. Trott and Joe Root scored a 14-run over of his fourth over and that forced McCullum to keep him out of the attack. He scored the runs at a brisk-rate and took the scoring rate from 3.75 to 4.45 runs per over. But Root wasn’t in great touch as he was struggling to time the ball. Consequently, he was removed by Nathan McCullum for 30, leaving England at 116/3. They soon lost the wicket of Jonathan Trott as he threw his wicket away for 37 in the very next over of Nathan McCullum.

After the wicket of Jonathan Trott, England completely lost the plot and crumbled to 126/5 in 30 overs. Butler and Chris Woakes had a significant task on hand as they had to take England past the 200-run mark. Ian Butler and Chris Woakes were scoring at a decent rate, but yet another England batsman – Butler, lost the patience as he was dismissed in 37^th over, leaving England reeling at 159/6. The final push came from Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann as they scored 24 runs off last three overs. England, finally, managed to post a reasonable score on a perfect batting strip.

None of the England batsmen were able to convert their starts into a meaningful innings. Jonathan Trott, Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Graeme Swann were dismissed in 30’s.

The wicket was perfect strip for batting and it would require an extraordinary performance from England to win first ODI at Lord’s. But they managed to pick couple of wickets in the first over as Anderson got rid of dangerous Luke Ronchi in the third ball of the match. He soon followed up with the wicket of Kane Williamson as the latter was caught by Buttler for nought.

Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill steadied the ship as the duo put on a salvaging partnership of 120 runs. Intelligently, Alastair Cook brought James Anderson in the 26^th over because he has the ability to reverse the ball. However, he was getting the seam movement of the surface and that was enough to get rid of Ross Taylor for 54.

Martin Guptill and Elliott ensured New Zealand did not make a mess of small target as the duo took calculated risks to put the pressure on England. Elliott got off the mark with a lovely boundary through cover region. He and Martin Guptill batted sensibly as they did not do more than what was required at that stage. They rotated the strike and at the same time, punished the loose deliveries to the fence.

After the wicket of Elliott in 36^th over, Brendon McCullum joined Martin Guptill. Brendon McCullum batted sensibly as he kept rotating the strike. Martin Guptill took calculated risks against Anderson in 40^th over and 42^nd over to help New Zealand inch closer towards England’s total. But Brendon McCullum was dismissed by Dernbach in 41^st over as the latter was caught at deep extra cover for 5. (Sir This para has some problem as Paragraph space is automatically changed)

James Franklin together with Martin Guptill finished the job for New Zealand in most grand fashion. James Franklin scored 24*, while Guptill finished the innings with a magnificent century.

Alastair Cook was helpless as he made all possible bowling changes. Perhaps Cook would know that he did not have enough runs on the board to defend. The conditions became better for batting in the after-noon and New Zealand batsmen exploited it perfectly. Nonetheless, they still have two matches against New Zealand to prepare for Champions Trophy.