New Zealand suffered a heavy defeat by 87 runs at the hands of the hosts England at Cardiff on Tuesday. Thus, their chances of going into the semi-finals look bleak as they would need to win their final group match against Bangladesh to stand any sort of chance of qualifying.
However, much will depend on the England-Australia game. If Australia trump the hosts in their last group encounter, then New Zealand are eliminated regardless of their result against Bangladesh.
Batting first, the hosts piled on a total of 310 runs riding on half-centuries from Joe Root, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler. Ben Stokes also batted well but was unfortunate to fall just 2 runs short of a well-deserved fifty.
Extra Cover: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: England vs New Zealand, 5 things that went wrong for the Kiwis
New Zealand got off to a troubled start, losing Luke Ronchi in the very first over of the innings. Guptill couldn’t deliver as he too was dismissed for just 27 (33). It was skipper Kane Williamson (87) and Ross Taylor (39) who stitched together a 95 run stand for the third wicket. However, once they were dismissed, the Kiwis collapsed and were bundled out for just 223 runs.
#1 Hales, Root and Buttler amongst the runs
The Kiwi bowlers did well to pick up wickets at regular intervals and finally bowl England out. However, nearly run-a-ball fifties from Alex Hales and Joe Root and a quick fire 61*(48) down the order from Jos Buttler ensured that England crossed the 300-run mark.
Root and Hales got things going for England after Roy departed for 13. Both the batsmen played some fabulous shots and at one point it seemed that it would be a tough task for the Kiwi bowlers to dismiss the duo.
Hales struck two sixes and three fours en route to his half-century. The partnership of 81 runs between the two was finally broken by Adam Milne who bowled Hales for a score of 56 (62) and thus reduced England to 118/2.
Root carried on the innings along with Ben Stokes and both of them kept the run-rate up for England. Root’s stumps were castled by Corey Anderson for 64 (65) that included 4 fours and 2 sixes. Stokes departed soon after, scoring 48 (53). However, it was Buttler’s unbeaten 61 (48) that helped England cross the 300-run mark. He played some unbelievable shots striking two fours and the same number of sixes in his innings.
#2 3 wickets in the space of 4 balls
England could have amassed much more than 310. Jos Buttler was on fire with the bat at one end and all he needed was some support at the other end. However, the last three English batsmen tried to swing big and perished.
England lost Liam Plunkett on the last ball of the 49th over and then Mark Wood and Jake Ball on the second and third deliveries of the final over respectively. Morgan’s side had scored 80 runs in their final nine overs with Buttler scoring more than 50 of those.
#3 Jake Ball’s sensational spell at the start of the Kiwi innings
Jake Ball started off with two maiden overs and troubled the Kiwi batsmen with consistent bounce and swing. Moreover, he picked up the early wicket of Luke Ronchi (0) on the fourth ball of his very first over.
He hit consistent lengths and utilised the conditions very well to generate swing that troubled the Kiwi top order. He was absolutely sensational in his first couple of overs as the Kiwi batsmen could score off none of the deliveries.
That spell prevented New Zealand getting the momentum they needed at the start to chase down such a big total. He finished with fabulous figures of 8-2-31-2 in what was a Man of the Match-winning spell.
#4 Kane Williamson the lone warrior for the Kiwis
The skipper Kane Williamson was the only batsman who showed some resolve and the will to fight. Starting off on a rather slow note, Williamson accelerated as the innings went on. New Zealand were in the game while the duo of Williamson and Ross Taylor were at the crease.
They stitched together a partnership of 95 runs for the third wicket and looked like taking the game away from England. However, Williamson fell victim to a superb delivery from Mark Wood for 87 (98) in the 31st over of their innings.
It was a very well compiled innings with minimal risks as his statistics of eight boundaries and zero sixes suggest. Taylor departed soon after, and once he was dismissed, the rest of the batsmen collapsed like a pack of cards.
#5 New Zealand’s dismal collapse
New Zealand lost their last eight wickets for just 65 runs and that sums up how poor they were with the bat. No one apart from Martin Guptill (27), Kane Williamson (87) and Ross Taylor (39) crossed the 20-run mark.
Once Williamson departed, the rest of the Kiwi batsmen fell like a pack of cards. Neil Broom (11), James Neesham (18), Corey Anderson (10) and Mitchell Santner (3) were the lower middle order batsmen on whom much of the run chase depended.
However, they failed to deliver the goods as the English bowlers proved to be too hot to handle for them. It was Liam Plunkett who finished off things for New Zealand, claiming the wickets of Anderson, Adam Milne (10) and Tim Southee (2) off back-to-back overs.
Plunkett thus ended up with bowling figures of 4-55 which turned out to be his second four-wicket haul in as many games.
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