England vs New Zealand: 4th ODI Summary and Analysis

Match Basics

Match: England versus New Zealand
Date: 7th March, 2018
Ground: Dunedin
Umpires: Shaun Haig, Rod Tucker
Toss won by: New Zealand, elected to field first.

Scorecard Summary

1st Team Play: 335/9 (50 Overs, RR: 6.7)

Performers:

Batting: Johnny Bairstow138 runs off 106 balls, Joe Root 102 runs off 101 balls.

Bowling: Colin Munro2/53in 8 overs, Ish Sodhi4/58 in 10 overs.

Target: 336 runs from 50 overs.

2^ND Team Play: 339/5 (49.3 Overs, RR: 6.87)

Performers:

Batting: Ross Taylor181 runs off 147 balls, Tom Latham71 runs off 67 balls.

Bowling: Chris Woakes1/42 in 8 overs, Tom Curran2/57 in 8.3 overs.

Player of the match: Ross Taylor

Result: New Zealand won by 5 wickets.

1. 1. The 4^thODI that was played in Dunedin was a must win match for New Zealand as the series had already gone up 2-1 in England’s favor.New Zealand started the match by winning the toss and elected to field first.
   2. England’s openers Jason Roy and Johnny Bairstow gave them a solid start followed by Joe Root himself who shared a 106 partnership with Bairstow. Both Root and Bairstow went on to score centuries to ensure that England put a competitive total on board. However, the lower order failed to finish off at the end except for Tom Curran who played a nice cameo and scored 22 off 10 balls. Jose Buttler was promoted two spots up his usual batting position but he was out for a duck followed by Morgan, Stokes and Ali all of which managed to score within single digits.
   3. New Zealand’s bowlers went for runs in the earlier overs but their late wickets kept England from scoring 350+. Ish Sodhi, in particular spun the ball and placed it in the right areas quite brilliantly as he took four key wickets in the match and went for 58 runs followed by Colin Munro and Trent Boult who took 2 for 53 and 2 for 56 respectively.
   4. In reply, New Zealand’s openers Guptill and Munro departed after scoring ducks, all thanks to Chris Woakes accuracy and Mark Wood’s exquisite bowling. However, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor steadied New Zealand’s ship and put them on course. Williamson lost his wicket to Stokes and now it all boiled down to the middle overs specialists Ross Taylor and Tom Latham. Both these batsmen brought New Zealand close to victory when Latham was removed for 71 by Tom Curran with New Zealand still needing 63 to win.
   5. However, Ross Taylor was in no mood of getting out andhe gave himself a birthday gift a day earlier as he scored 187* off 147 balls while Colin de Grandhomme played a cameo of 23 of 12 balls. After Grandhomme departed Henry Nicholls came and finished things off with a six in the 49^th over with 3 balls to spare.
   6. England’s bowling was precise in the first overs, however their bowlers lost track in the middle overs and that is where the New Zealand batsmen feasted. New Zealand scoreboard read 2-2 when Ross Taylor came but England had no reply to the man’s masterclass innings. Apart from Chris Woakes who showed great accuracy today and Tom Curran, no England bowler seemed to make an impact on the New Zealand team who won this match and levelled the series by 2-2.
   7. The fifth and final ODI of this series is scheduled to be held on Saturday 10^th March.  It is a must-win for both teams and it surely will be a nail biter as far as we can tell.

Teams

Eoin Morgan (c)

Ben Stokes

Moeen Ali

Chris Woakes

Adil Rashid

Tom Curran

Mark Wood

Jason Roy

Johnny Bairstow

Joe Root

Jos Buttler

Martin Guptill

Colin Munro

Kane Williamson (c)

Ross Taylor

Tom Latham

Colin de Grandhomme

Henry Nicholls

Mitchell Santner

Tim Southee

Ish Sodhi

Trent Boult