BIRMINGHAM: Ish Sodhi and Kyle Jamieson collected three wickets apiece as New Zealand beat England by 74 runs on Sunday in the third Twenty20 international at Edgbaston, keeping the visitors’ hopes of drawing the four-match series alive.

New Zealand, who lost the first two matches, opted to bat and had Finn Allen (83) and Glenn Phillips (69) to thank for helping them past the 200 mark as the pair combined for an 88-run partnership off 47 balls.

With a sizeable target to chase, England lost their opening four batters cheaply, before captain Jos Buttler scored a battling 40 and Moeen Ali contributed 26 runs to give them hope.

However, once Buttler departed after being caught-and-bowled by Mitchell Santner, England wickets continued to fall at a steady pace as the hosts were bundled out for 128 with nine balls left.

“Finn showed his class today and Glenn has been outstanding for us for a long time, especially on tricky surfaces. He made it look like a completely different surface to everyone else,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee told the BBC.

After Southee won the toss, Devon Conway was run out in the fourth over.

But opening partner Allen responded with a dashing innings that lasted just 53 balls.

The highlights came during a 15th over where he launched the experienced Rashid for three consecutive sixes — a drive over deep extra cover, a legside slog and a lofted shot down the ground taking him to 77.

He was in sight of a second T20 century when bowled by Wood’s inswinging yorker to end a 53-ball innings.

Atkinson took two wickets in the 19th over, bowling Phillips with a slower ball before removing Daryl Mitchell. Jamieson then dismissed for Will Jacks (11), with Southee removing Dawid Malan (2).

The in-form Harry Brook got off the mark with a four but fell for eight when he holed out off Sodhi, who had already dismissed Jonny Bairstow.

Jamieson struck twice in the 16th over, with his dismissal of Moeen leaving England all but beaten at 113-9.

The fourth and final match will be played at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND:

F. Allen b Wood 83

D. Conway run out 9

T. Seifert st Buttler b Livingstone 19

G. Phillips b Atkinson 69

M. Chapman not out 8

D. Mitchell c Buttler b Atkinson 8

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-2, W-2) 6

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 202

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-31 (Conway), 2-75 (Seifert), 3-163 (Allen), 4-185 (Phillips), 5-193 (Mitchell)

DID NOT BAT: M. Santner, K. Jamieson, I. Sodhi, T. Southee, M. Henry

BOWLING: Wood 4-0-36-1, Atkinson 4-0-31-2 (1w, 1nb), Jordan 4-0-35-0 (1nb), Rashid 4-0-43-0, Livingstone 4-0-55-1 (1w)

ENGLAND:

J. Bairstow c Phillips b Sodhi 12

W. Jacks c Chapman b Jamieson 11

D. Malan c Conway b Southee 2

H. Brook c Mitchell b Sodhi 8

J. Buttler c&b Santner 40

M. Ali c Mitchell b Jamieson 26

L. Livingstone c Santner b Henry 2

C. Jordan c Seifert b Sodhi 2

L. Wood c Mitchell b Jamieson 3

G. Atkinson not out 8

A. Rashid c Seifert b Southee 8

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5) 6

TOTAL (all out, 18.3 overs) 128

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Jacks), 2-26 (Malan), 3-30 (Bairstow), 4-55 (Brook), 5-92 (Buttler), 6-95 (Livingstone), 7-104 (Jordan), 8-111 (Wood), 9-113 (Ali)

BOWLING: Southee 3.3-0-30-2, Henry 4-0-21-1, Jamieson 4-0-23-3 (2w), Santner 3-0-20-1, Sodhi 4-0-33-3 (3w)

RESULT: New Zealand won by 74 runs.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2023