Who needs practice? After a six-month lay-off, the England Twenty20 team performed like the world champions it is, smacking New Zealand by seven wickets. Liam Livingstone grabbed a six deep in the stands to end the match with six overs: reuniting the group has never seemed easier.
The new additions of Jos Buttler-Brydon Carse made his T20 debut and Luke Wood and Will Jacks only played their fourth and fifth white-ball matches for England-impressed everyone and Dawid Malan and Harry Brook shared a 54-run partnership that reflected their individual styles.
Malan started slowly but struck out with increasing weight as England batted in the 11th 100 erreichte.Er approached his half-century with a compelling, work-whipped six. Brook, in the end, was the one who offered the crowd the kind of show they expect from him, including two great sixes on Ish Sodhi.
Even on a low-scoring floor like the Riverside, 139 for nine was the total, which indicated that Tim Southee’s team would return to his hotel long before the restaurant closed. In March, the new world champions were eliminated in a series after the mayoral show against Bangladesh with a score of 3: 0. Here they gathered a hundred cricket after a month: Buttler had described his players as “action-hardened”. They crossed New Zealand thugs like heavy artillery by a light brigade.
For Carse, who wasn’t even part of the original team announced last week, a three-for-23 comeback at his ground in Durham was the best start he could have wished for. “If you might have asked me a few months ago, playing international T20 cricket was not on my radar,” said the 28‑year-old, who had been tapped to play tests this summer ahead of a possible side health issue ruled him out. “Of course I have big ambitions to play for England in any format.”
There were also three wickets for Wood, in a bowling performance in England that was as well oiled as a hipster’s BEARD. Half of the New Zealand team had also played in the hundred, but had difficulty adjusting to the pace of the pitch and the game.
For a brief moment, it seemed like openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway were picking up where they left off with Southern Brave. Allen threw the third ball of the game behind Wood at an angle that indicated he was aiming for the international space station. The next two deliveries were hung for six years. England, who never came across a ball that they did not want to change, had a new one before the end of the first round.
But Wood changed the ending and his second plus had Conway on the edge behind it. Carse, with a test length from the start, threw Allen off his tenth delivery, and when a woodcutter did stump for Tim seifert, New Zealand was three before the numerical advantage ended.
Glenn Phillips alone offered a measure of hope in the middle order. He dispensed with striking punches for a mixture of care and hard runs and had amassed 41 of 38 points when he came across a clever catch by Sam Curran, who had to chase a drifting ball from a long distance. Sodhi hit a six,but Carse took two more wickets in the final.
