NOTTINGHAM: New Zealand’s wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi watches as England’s Joe Root sweeps the ball during the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge.—AP

NOTTINGHAM: Classy centuries from captain Eoin Morgan and Joe Root propelled England to a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the fourth One-day International at Trent Bridge on Wednesday to square the pulsating five-match series at 2-2 (partly reported in Thursday’s edition).

Chasing a huge target of 350 for victory, Morgan’s swashbuckling 113 off 82 balls and a more measured 106 not out from Root helped England chase it down with six overs to spare.

It was England’s highest successful run chase in One-day Internationals and equalled the fourth highest total by any team batting second to win an ODI.

A battling 90 from Kane Williamson and half centuries from Grant Elliott and Martin Guptill had helped the tourists reach 349-7, but Alex Hales got England off to a flying start with a quickfire 67 before Morgan and Root took over.

A remarkably high-scoring series will now be decided in Durham at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.

“It’s certainly up there with one of the best games of cricket I’ve ever played in. The boys showed that aggressive intent right from the get-go,” Morgan said.

After New Zealand posted an imposing total, the new-look England side, enthused with aggressive intent, swiftly set about chipping away at the target.

Hales got the hosts off to a flying start, smashing 67 off 38 balls, before he dragged on trying to heave Matt Henry down the ground and fellow opener Jason Roy (38) followed soon after to leave the hosts on 111 for two.

Morgan and Root swiftly restored the momentum, however, with the captain racing to his eighth ODI hundred off 73 balls before he was caught by Henry at fine leg with England closing in on victory on 309 for three.

Root and Morgan’s stand of 198 was the highest third wicket ODI partnership against New Zealand.

Left-hander Morgan had a lucky break on 66 when he skied Henry towards deep midwicket, where neither Elliott nor Ben Wheeler — who almost collided with one another — got a hand to the ball.

Ben Stokes arrived at the crease to help Root reach three figures, before England swiftly wrapped up proceedings.

It was a dispiriting result for New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who was confident his side had done enough with their batting.

“It was an incredible run chase,” he said. “We knew they were going to have to play well to beat us and play well they did. They blew us off the park again.”

This match was veteran Australian umpire Steve Davis’s last in the middle before retirement — although he will be the replay official for Saturday’s series-decider.

“I thought I was going OK until Brendon asked me to lead the players off [the field],” said Davis. “Then I got emotional. It’s been great to have the respect of the players.”

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:
M. Guptill c Finn b Stokes 53
B. McCullum c Buttler b Wood 35
K. Williamson c Rashid b Willey 90
R. Taylor lbw b Finn 42
G. Elliott not out 55
L. Ronchi c Stokes b Willey 8
M. Santner c Billings b Stokes 44
T. Southee c Stokes b Rashid 1
B. Wheeler not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-13, NB-3) 18
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 349
FALL OF WKTS: 1-88, 2-116, 3-217, 4-250, 5-271, 6-342, 7-344.
DID NOT BAT: M. Henry, M. McClenaghan.
BOWLING: Willey 10-0-89-2 (1nb, 7w); Finn 10-1-51-1 (1w); Wood 10-0-49-1 (1w); Stokes 10-0-73-2 (2nb, 2w); Rashid 8-0-75-1 (1w); Root 2-0-10-0 (1w).

ENGLAND:
J. Roy c Williamson b Henry 38
A. Hales b Henry 67
J. Root not out 106
E. Morgan c Henry b Southee 113
B. Stokes not out 19

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-3) 7
TOTAL (for three wkts, 44 overs) 350
FALL OF WKTS: 1-100, 2-111, 3-309.
DID NOT BAT: J. Buttler, S. Billings, A. Rashid, D. Willey, M. Wood, S. Finn.
BOWLING: Wheeler 8-1-75-0; Southee 10-0-70-1 (3w); McClenaghan 8-0-64-0; Henry 10-0-77-2; Williamson 4-0-28-0; Santner 4-0-32-0.

RESULT: England won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: R.J. Bailey (England) and S.J. Davis (Australia).
TV UMPIRE: B.N.J. Oxenford (Australia).
MATCH REFEREE: J. Srinath (India).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Eoin Morgan.
FIRST MATCH: Edgbaston, England won by 210 runs.
SECOND MATCH: The Oval, New Zealand won by 13 runs (D/L method).
THIRD MATCH: Southampton, New Zealand won by three wickets.
FIFTH MATCH: Chester-le-Street, Saturday.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2015

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