Once again England displayed a spirited performance and showed their last match performance was not a fluke. This time, however, result didn’t go in their favour as New Zealand managed to sneak a narrow win at the Oval.
New Zealand were also helped by rain and the revised target for England was to score 34 off 13 balls. They still put a brave effort to come close to the target and lost the game by 13 runs (D/L Method).
“Considering we got so close in the chase, it’s a little bit disappointing at the end,” England skipper Eoin Morgan said.
“It’s a huge ask, not only to chase down 399 but to have 34 to chase in 13 balls, given that we set it up so deep, the guys were in and the momentum was with us – it was very disappointing that it did rain.”
The result, however, didn’t take away the fact England batted while chasing 399 runs target setup by New Zealand. Ross Taylor scored a fluent century to propel the hosts to a mammoth target.
“We’re enjoying this brand of cricket and certainly having the guys in the changing room to play in that way naturally – not making it such a big deal,” Morgan said.
“The guys are quite young, I think Liam Plunkett’s the oldest at 30, so there’s a huge amount of potential and talent to work with. That’s great for any captain and backroom staff.”
