Simon Burnton’s match report is here, which is the cue to shut this blog down. Night!
Jos Buttler’s verdict
I think we’ve got better and better throughout the series. [On Dawid Malan] He’s played fantastically well every time. Today was a fantastic hundred; he read the game very, very well. I thought 311 was a really good score on a wicket that was a little bit slow.
I thought the spinners [Moeen and Livingstone] bowled brilliantly. We know what they can do and it’s great to see it. They’re really valuable cricketers.
[You’re going to defend the World Cup. How well positioned are you?] We’re well positioned, we’re building nicely. We’re not trying to defend anything – we’re going there to try and win a World Cup. We’re in exactly the same position as every other team. It’s an exciting time.
"We're trying to go there and win a World Cup" 🏆
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 15, 2023
Jos Buttler says England have got better and better throughout the series against New Zealand and looks ahead to the World Cup 💪 pic.twitter.com/FmMuFqI9sm
Updated
The New Zealand captain Tom Latham speaks to Sky Sports
I’ve never had four injuries in one game as captain before. I thought guys stepped up pretty well considering the situation. Daryl Mitchell did a great job. With the bat we just weren’t able to build partnerships.
[On Tim Southee] Her’s in good spirits. He’ll be assessed further to see how bad it is, but fingers crossed he’ll be ready for the World Cup. Rachin Ravindra bowled fantastically well and we know what he can do with the bat.
🗣️ "It's given us a good chance to see the areas we need to improve on"
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 15, 2023
Tom Latham picks out the positives for New Zealand after a 3-1 ODI series defeat to England 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/JoODtu1M9K
Updated
The player of the match, and series, is Dawid Malan, who made 277 runs at 92, with a strike rate of 106
Yeah it was good fun. It’s fantastic to score some runs at the Home of Cricket, and leading into the World Cup as well. I thought the pitch was a bit slow – I got away with a few early, and whenever they built pressure I found it hard to score. When Jos came in we were able to get the scoreboard going and push towards 300, which we thought was a good score.
Trying to break into this white-ball team, in both T20 and ODIs, you have to either be a freak or be consistent. I’ve had to be as consistent as I can and put matchwinning performances on the board. That’s the only way you can get into the squad and hopefully I’ll keep taking opportunities when I get them.
I was gutted in the last game, so to back it up today is fantastic. [The World Cup] is extremely exciting. It’s a dream come true to play for England, never mind at a World Cup. When the squad’s confirmed, it’d be great to go.
"I didn't know that stat so it's a great one to have!" 😅🤓
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 15, 2023
Dawid Malan is awarded Player of the Match and Series 🙌🔥 pic.twitter.com/MxPVeYczlE
Updated
England win the ODI series 3-1
New Zealand are nine down but Tim Southee has a fractured thumb, so that’s the end of the game. England came from 1-0 down – 1.5-0 down really, given their start at the Ageas Bowl – to win the series emphatically.
There are still a few doubts, mainly due to injury and age, but some players have hit form at the right time. Or, in the case of Dawid Malan, maintained outrageous form: he leads the England team off after a matchwinning century that has surely confirmed his place in the team, never mind the squad.
The other big plusses for England were Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, David Willey and Moeen Ali. Two of those four may not play the opening game in the World Cup, but England will need their whole squad during a demanding tournament.
For New Zealand, Trent Boult was majestic, Rachin Ravindra very promising and Daryl Mitchell his usual brilliant self. Injuries are also a concern for them, particularly Tim Southee and a potentially rusty Kane Williamson.
Updated
WICKET! New Zealand 211 all out (Ravindra b Curran 61)
Sam Curran ends the fun with an immaculate yorker, and England win by 100 runs.
Updated
38th over: New Zealand 211-8 (Ravindra 61, Lister 5) Blimey. Brydon Carse’s first ball is slammed over mid-on for six by Ravindra. He hooks the next ball over fine leg for another six, his fourth in the last ten deliveries. That takes him to a maiden international fifty from 42 balls, and he celebrates with two more boundaries. Twenty-one from the over. Maybe he’ll do a Nathan Astle.
Updated
37th over: New Zealand 190-8 (Ravindra 40, Lister 5) Since you asked, the six spinners who have taken ODI five-fors for England are Vic Marks (twice), Graeme Hick, Ashley Giles, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid (twice, including this confusing little beauty).
Alas, Moeen won’t be joining the list. Ravindra slog-sweeps for six more, flat-bats just short of mid-off and then walks a single to deep point. After two more singles, Lister slices a heave just wide of short third man. Moeen ends with career-second-best figures of 10-0-52-4.
36th over: New Zealand 180-8 (Ravindra 32, Lister 4) Lister’s hamstring injury means New Zealand can’t take singles, so Ravindra slog-sweeps Livingstone to cow corner for six.
He survives an England review for caught behind later in the over after missing an attempted sweep. It was originally given as a wide but replays showed the ball hit the pad, so the wide was overruled. God bless technology, eh.
35th over: New Zealand 173-8 (Ravindra 25, Lister 4) We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of these wickets, such is the fragility of Moeen’s confidence. This is only his second ODI four-for, and his first since 2018. He could yet take a maiden five-for.
Lister, who is likely to be the last man given Southee’s injury, defends the hat-trick ball and belts the next one back over Moeen’s head for four. And why not.
WICKET! New Zealand 169-8 (Henry c Root b Ali 0)
Two in two! Matt Henry slices a drive to slip, where Joe Root takes a very smart catch.
Updated
WICKET! New Zealand 169-7 (Jamieson ct and b Ali 15)
Another one for Moeen, all his own work. Jamieson shaped for some bish-bosh but then clunked the ball tamely back to Moeen, who took a comfortable return catch.
Updated
34th over: New Zealand 164-6 (Ravindra 20, Jamieson 15) Jamieson chips Livingstone over midwicket for a couple before being beaten by a slower delivery that grips and turns. Lovely bowling. There might have been a stumping chance but Buttler couldn’t take the ball cleanly. New Zealand need 148 from 96 balls.
33rd over: New Zealand 159-6 (Ravindra 18, Jamieson 12) As Mike Atherton says on Sky, there’s a real end-of-term feeling about this game. Jamieson, who as things stand isn’t going to the World Cup, doesn’t need to worry about batting practice. He belts Moeen over mid-off for the first boundary since the 22nd over.
32nd over: New Zealand 151-6 (Ravindra 16, Jamieson 6) Jamieson is almost cleaned up by a skiddy delivery from Livingstone. He chips the next ball not far short of long on, and that’s drinks. Still no boundaries off the spinners, who have bowled 12 overs for 45.
31st over: New Zealand 146-6 (Ravindra 14, Jamieson 2) It’s three weeks yesterday until these teams meet in the opening match of the World Cup. I doubt England’s series win will count for much in itself, though some of the match-ups and individual performances probably will.
30th over: New Zealand 143-6 (Ravindra 13, Jamieson 1) Livingstone and Moeen have combined figures of 10-0-37-3.
Updated
WICKET! New Zealand 142-6 (Phillips c Brook b Livingstone 25)
“Not many bad deliveries,” says Nasser Hussain of Liam Livingstone. Two seconds later, Livingstone bowls a loopy full toss – and Phillips carts it straight to deep midwicket. He drops his bat in dismay, Livingstone breaks into a broad smile. Sometimes you eat the bar…
Updated
29th over: New Zealand 139-5 (Phillips 24, Ravindra 12) After three successive dot balls, a slightly flustered Ravindra chips Moeen just short of Root at mid-on. A fine over from Moeen, with just two runs off the last delivery. We’re reaching the point where New Zealand need snookers.
28th over: New Zealand 137-5 (Phillips 24, Ravindra 10) More low-risk accumulation against the spin of Livingstone, with a single off the first five deliveries. Livingstone and Moeen have bowled eight overs without conceding a boundary.
27th over: New Zealand 132-5 (Phillips 22, Ravindra 7) New Zealand need almost eight an over now, so Phillips and Ravindra might decide to get a bit of batting practice. Pragmatism not idealism/Will not cry in public/Less chance of illness.
Updated
26th over: New Zealand 126-5 (Phillips 21, Ravindra 3) Another thrifty over from Livingstone. A peculiar white-ball marathon – eight games, all one-sided – is petering out. There’s been no need for boundary countbacks, that’s for sure.
25th over: New Zealand 123-5 (Phillips 20, Ravindra 1) Moeen’s having a fine series with the ball: five wickets at an average of 19. That equals the most wickets he has taken in an ODI series – including multi-team tournaments like the World Cup – since the 5-0 win over Australia in 2018.
Updated
WICKET! New Zealand 122-5 (Nicholls LBW b Ali 41)
Shows what I know. Nicholls has gone! He doesn’t look thrilled with the decision, but replays suggested the ball would have hit the top of leg stump.
It took the third umpire a while to decide there hadn’t been an inside edge, but I think he made the right decision. The rest was up to ball-tracking.
Updated
England review for LBW! New Zealand, probably Phillips, will have to go after one of these spinners pretty soon. Nicholls walks down the track to Moeen and is hit on the pad, prompting a biggish LBW appeal. It’s turned down but Buttler decides to review. He doesn’t look convinced, to be honest, and I’ll be very surprised if this is out.
Updated
24th over: New Zealand 121-4 (Nicholls 40, Phillips 19) Liam Livingstone replaces Carse, who bowled a vaguely Plunkettian spell of 6-0-32-1. As ever he switches between offies and leggies depending on who is facing, and another boundaryless over is good news for England.
“Some, actually a lot, of my favourite cricketers were involved in that 2002 match at Lord’s,” says Simon McMahon. “Trescothick, Hussain, Flintoff, Collingwood, Gough, and that’s just England. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, Harbhajan, Zaheer … It’s like a who’s who of English and Indian cricket at either side of the millennium. Plus Ronnie Irani.”
I could never work Irani out. Nasser rated him, and his first-class statistics are spectacular - 41.58 with the bat, 29.51 with the ball - but after a very good knock on Test debut he rarely looked at home in international cricket. I think he took India apart in the group stage of that NatWest Series as well.
23rd over: New Zealand 115-4 (Nicholls 38, Phillips 16) Moeen continues to twist the screw, or is it turn the knife, by conceding three singles from his third over. The required rate is up to 7.29.
22nd over: New Zealand 112-4 (Nicholls 36, Phillips 15) Nicholls, beaten by Carse’s previous delivery, times a short-arm jab through midwicket for four. That was a superb shot. New Zealand are still in the game, just about: they need 200 from 168 balls. It’s doable.
Updated
21st over: New Zealand 104-4 (Nicholls 31, Phillips 13) Five singles from Moeen’s over. I got nothing else to say.
20th over: New Zealand 99-4 (Nicholls 28, Phillips 11) New Zealand have a longish tail, and there’s no chance Tim Southee will bat after fracturing and dislocating his thumb. Ben Lister also went off with a muscle strain so we might not see him either.
England, it seems, are heading for their first ODI series win on home soil since the days of John Simpson and Lewis Gregory. Phillips has other ideas, and drives Carse through the covers for a couple of crisp boundaries. He times the ball so sweetly.
19th over: New Zealand 89-4 (Nicholls 28, Phillips 1) A superb start from Moeen Ali: one run, one wicket.
WICKET! New Zealand 88-4 (Latham b Ali 13)
With two left-handers at the crease, Moeen Ali comes into the attack. Latham survives a big LBW appeal first up – he would have been out had England reviewed – but falls two balls later. He had an ugly smear across the line at one that skidded on to hit the back pad and deflect onto the stumps.
Updated
18th over: New Zealand 84-3 (Nicholls 28, Latham 13) Four singles from Carse’s fourth over, which ends with him moving round the wicket and beating Nicholls with another cracking delivery.
17th over: New Zealand 84-3 (Nicholls 26, Latham 11) A better over from Curran, who restricts New Zealand to just three singles. It feels like England have this game under control, although we said the same when India slipped to 146/5 back in 2002. What do you mean you don’t remember?
Updated
16th over: New Zealand 81-3 (Nicholls 24, Latham 10) There’s a run-out review when Bairstow’s throw from deep midwicket hits the stumps, but Latham was comfortably home. The running has been much more aggressive since Latham came to the crease.
Carse continues to bowl well, though, and beats Latham with a fine delivery that trampolines down the slope.
Updated
15th over: New Zealand 76-3 (Nicholls 20, Latham 9) The required rate is creeping towards saeven an over. Latham tries to address that with a graceful on-drive for four off Curran, and then Nicholls pulls over midwicket for three. Moeen’s knee gets stuck in the turf as he slides to save the boundary. We all remember Simon Jones at the Gabba, but on this occasion Moeen is fine.
A few quick singles make it a good over for New Zealand, 11 from it. That’s drinks, after which New Zealand need 237 runs from 210 balls.
14th over: New Zealand 65-3 (Nicholls 16, Latham 3) Nicholls is beaten by a sharp lifter from Carse, who is again bowling impressively. Buttler threw the ball up in celebration but then decided not to review. It was the right decision; there’s nothing on UltraEdge.
13th over: New Zealand 62-3 (Nicholls 15, Latham 1) Sam Curran replaces Willey (6-1-28-1). He tries a short ball to Nicholls, who takes it on and top-edges a hook for six.
12th over: New Zealand 53-3 (Nicholls 8, Latham 1) In other news, Australia are heading for a huge defeat at Centurion – and they have an injury scare over Travis Head, who has been in violent form since his recall last year.
WICKET! New Zealand 52-3 (Mitchell b Carse 4)
Goddim! Brydon Carse strikes in his first over with a beauty that comes back down the slope to bowl Daryl Mitchell. There might have been an inside edge but it was a lovely delivery either way.
Updated
11th over: New Zealand 51-2 (Nicholls 7, Mitchell 4) Willey beats Mitchell with a jaffa, almost identical to the delivery that dismissed Young. He does it again later in the over, and Mitchell screws his face up to acknowledge that sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.
A maiden from Willey, who has again bowled well with the new ball.
Updated
10th over: New Zealand 51-2 (Nicholls 7, Mitchell 4) A poor ball from Topley, short and wide, is larruped through the covers for four by Nicholls. It has felt like hard going for New Zealand in the Powerplay, but a run-rate of 5.1 is decent enough.
Updated
9th over: New Zealand 46-2 (Nicholls 3, Mitchell 3) An inswinger from Willey flicks the pad of Mitchell and flies away for four, though it’s given as wides rather than leg byes.
WICKET! New Zealand 38-2 (Young c Buttler b Willey 24)
David Willey gets his new-ball wicket. It was a really good delivery that moved away to take the outside edge as Young pushed forward, and Buttler dived to his right to take a slightly awkward catch.
Updated
8th over: New Zealand 35-1 (Young 24, Nicholls 0) Young times Topley through midwicket, with Willey sliding round the boundary to save two runs. He has no chance later in the over with Young nails a pull stroke.
That’s Young’s third boundary, and Root denies him a fourth with a cracking diving stop at backward point.
7th over: New Zealand 27-1 (Young 16, Nicholls 0) Young is beaten by a bit of extra bounce from Willey, then steals a single to Brook at mid-off. Willey wasn’t impressed with that and gave Brook a teapot.
“Why is more credit not given to Buttler’s ability to throw down the stumps at both ends?” wonders Brendan Large. “The guy has an amazing highlight reel. My particular favourite is the 2019 World Cup when he got it through the legs of Steve Smith at the non-striker’s end. The guy is unreal.”
That’s an interesting question. Maybe it’s such a niche skill that people don’t really dwell on it. Like throwing a kettle over a pub.
Updated
6th over: New Zealand 26-1 (Young 15, Nicholls 0) Nicholls chases a very wide delivery from Topley and under-edges it just short of slip. Good stuff so far from Topley: 3-1-9-0.
Talking of Freddie Flintoff, here’s some background on his welcome return to the England dressing-room.
WICKET! New Zealand 24-1 (Conway run out 7)
Great work by Jos Buttler! New Zealand tried to steal a leg bye when the ball deflected towards leg slip, and Buttler made them pay. He took his right glove off, ran round the ball and then detonated the stumps with Conway just short of his ground. That’s brilliant.
Updated
5th over: New Zealand 23-0 (Young 14, Conway 7) Jos Buttler moves third man up inside the circle, so Young thick edges the next ball for four.
4th over: New Zealand 19-0 (Young 9, Conway 7) Conway drives Topley stylishly through the covers for four, then survives an LBW appeal that had the square root of bugger all going for it. There’s a slightly better appeal against Young off the next ball, but it probably pitched outside leg and there might have been an inside edge.
“Re: the picture and the 300+ chase at Lord’s, was it India?” says Simon McMahon. “That looks like a shirtless Sourav Ganguly to me.”
I’m very confused now. Yep it was India, in Nasser’s match, and Ganguly’s toplessness was partly in response to Freddie Flintoff doing something similar at the of an ODI series between the teams earlier in the year.
3rd over: New Zealand 11-0 (Young 8, Conway 2) Willey has taken almost half of his ODI wickets in the first 10 overs, so this is his time. Young tries to drive on the walk and is beaten by a superb delivery; the rest of the over is quiet enough, with a slight misfield from Moeen allowing a couple of extra runs.
2nd over: New Zealand 4-0 (Young 4, Conway 0) Reece Topley, the second of three left-armers in England’s attack tonight, starts with a maiden. Devon Conway is beaten by a ball that seams and bounces grotesquely outside off stump, and a couple of other deliveries move off the seam. A very encouraging start for Topley.
1st over: New Zealand 4-0 (Young 4, Conway 0) No surprise to see David Willey take the new ball; he’s done so in 64 of his 66 ODI innings. Will Young cuts the fourth ball for four; Willey replies with a good delivery that beats the outside edge. That’s all, folks.
New Zealand have confirmed that Tim Southee has dislocated and fractured his right thumb. That’s dreadful news; he must be a major doubt for the World Cup.
The players are back out on the field. It’s a gorgeous evening at Lord’s, the kind of weather you’d expect in – I don’t know – the penultimate weekend in July.
Thanks Tim, afternoon everyone. Only one team has ever chased 300+ in an ODI at Lord’s, so it looks like New Zealand are up against it. Here’s a clue as to the identity of the aforementioned chasers.
You have to feel for New Zealand. Lord’s, which treated them harshly enough four years ago, decided to take out their players, one by one, as in an Agatha Christie, except with finger injuries rather than gunshots or doses of arsenic. Tim Southee couldn’t bowl more than four overs and Daryl Mitchell, a fellow sufferer, had to be pressed into service. He did very well but couldn’t stop England getting past 300, because Dawid Malan knows how to make big runs in this format and the rest of them can give you a few cameos any time you like – albeit, in Joe Root’s case, a cameo unfolding with agonising slowness.
That’s me done for the day. The great Rob Smyth will be with you to see how the New Zealanders’ fingers fare in their own innings. Thanks for your company, correspondence and forthright views on England’s World Cup selection.
Updated
England finish on 311!
50th over: England 311-9 (Carse 15, Topley 1) Nobody has managed to hit Mitchell for six … until his last ball, which Brydon Carse swings over Boult and into the crowd. Mitchell nonetheless goes off with a very respectable 2-40 to his name. England have 311, with Curran, Willey and Carse all chipping in well after a flat period around the 40th over. Several batters reached 20, and Dawid Malan – somehow, by nick or by flick – got 120. On a sticky pitch, 311 should be more than enough to wrap up the series, but you never know.
Wicket! Willey c sub (Boult) b Mitchell 19 (England 304-9)
Willey holes out! It’s a slower ball from Mitchell – an even slower ball – and not even Willey’s muscles can lever it over long-on. Trent Boult, unable to take wickets as he’s not officially playing, helps himself to his third catch of the day.
Updated
49th over: England 301-8 (Willey 19, Carse 6) Willey knows exactly how to play this situation. Facing Henry, he hits a slog for six and a scoop for four. The scoop brings up the 300 and draws cheers from a crowd who have been like the cricket – sleepy at times.
48th over: England 288-8 (Willey 8, Carse 4) Jamieson’s last over goes for five, so he finishes with figures (10-1-53-1) that do not flatter him. He was his old self for at least the first five of those overs.
47th over: England 283-8 (Willey 7, Carse 1) Before the wicket, Willey got going with a leg glance for four. England should still reach 300, but they’ve again failed to cash in on a hundred. First-world problems.
Here’s John Starbuck. “Moeen Ali, because he’s a spinner, should have a last tournament in the World Cup,” he reckons. “He’d probably accept that he’s had a good run and a pretty good record, even if he’s not been firing properly of late. But he deserves one more go.” Yes, and will get it, no doubt. But Liam Dawson has been robbed. With Adil Rashid becoming less dependable, surely Dawson should take the place of one of the six seamers.
Wicket! Curran b Henry 20 (England 282-8)
And another! Sam Curran has managed much the best strike-rate of the day, but he misses a straight one from Matt Henry and loses his off stump. Curran’s 20 came off only 13 balls.
Updated
46th over: England 275-7 (Curran 19, Willey 1) David Willey, often a fast starter, begins with two dots as Jamieson dishes up slower balls and cutters. When he nudges a single, Curran shows how it’s done by meeting another slower ball with a surgical incision, driving to the left of extra-cover and the right of long-off.
WICKET! Livingstone LBW b Jamieson 28 (England 270-7)
Livingstone, who has been playing himself out of form, misses a full toss and up goes the finger. He reviews, more in hope than expectation, and has to go as Hawk-Eye has the ball hitting the bottom of leg stump.
Updated
45th over: England 269-6 (Livingstone 28, Curran 14) Curran is threatening to take charge here. He gets a wide full toss from Ravindra and shows some strength and skill to loft it for four.
44th over: England 260-6 (Livingstone 26, Curran 6) England badly need a boundary, preferably off Mitchell. Cometh the hour, cometh the man: Sam Curran, playing a cut with fast hands to make sure it reaches the sponge.
“Much as we all love him,” says Brian Withington, “would it be too churlish to suggest that the Mo cameo innings is becoming an almost subliminal performance? Repeated often but fleetingly so.” It’s a fair point. He also has an awful habit, seen on Wednesday but not today, of being dropped and then caught in the same position. For a vice-captain, and such a likeable character, he can be quite flaky.
Adam Zampa has gone for the equal most expensive figures in ODI history. 0-113, same as Mick Lewis in 2006.
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) September 15, 2023
43rd over: England 251-6 (Livingstone 23, Curran 1) Not content with snaffling Moeen, Ravibdra then keeps Livingstone quiet. Only two singles off the over, so he has 9-0-49-4.
Updated
WICKET! Moeen c sub (Boult) b Ravindra 3 (England 250-6
Moeen goes large but picks out the man at long-off, the busy sub fielder Trent Boult. And Rachin Ravindra has his first four-for in ODIs.
Updated
42nd over: England 250-5 (Livingstone 22, Moeen 3) That last factoid was harsh on Daryl Mitchell, who, barring his expansive wides, has been quietly superb. After five overs he still hasn’t gone for a four, let alone a six, so I’d better edit that stat. He and Ravindra have 4-71 off their 13 overs; the rest of the bowlers have 1-177.
England send for Tom Hartley
Lancashire spinner Tom Hartley has been called into the England squad for the three-match ODI series against Ireland as a replacement for Craig Overton...
— Paul Newman (@Paul_NewmanDM) September 15, 2023
41st over: England 245-5 (Livingstone 21, Moeen 1) Ravindra, much like Malan, has been a mixed bag. But he now has 3-48 while the rest of the bowlers have 2-195 between them.
WICKET! Malan c Latham b Ravindra 127 (England 243-5)
Malan has been threatening to be caught behind all day, and now he’s managed it! To a terrible ball from Ravindra, so wide he can barely reach it. That’s the end of a curious hundred: half majestic, half streaky.
Updated
40th over: England 243-4 (Malan 127, Livingstone 20) Mitchell is still bowling, and still not getting clattered: in fact, he hasn’t gone for a single four yet. And he draws a nick from Livingstone, albeit with a slower ball that doesn’t have the legs to reach the keeper. Mitchell does deliver a couple of wides, including one that, if it had been mentioned in the film of The English Patient, would have been declared – in Ralph Fiennes’s fruitiest tones – a very wide wide.
39th over: England 238-4 (Malan 125, Livingstone 19) Livingstone gets the connection he was looking for just now, lofting Matt Henry for a straight six. Malan sees that and thinks he’ll have a six too, with a swing to leg. England’s run rate reaches six and they are dawdling no more.
“It strikes me,” says Kim Thonger, “expanding on your comment that ODIs can be quite long, that if cricket is compared to food, 50-over games are like KFC. Worth getting a knife and fork and condiments out for, even if you do eat it on a tray. Test-match cricket is a proper sit-down meal, with starter, main course roast with all the trimmings, sherry trifle, cheese and port, but T20s are mere snacks grabbed on the hoof, at best a bag of chicken nuggets and a Diet Coke. Sometimes, if you’re starving, essential.
“The Hundred is to me worth no more than a packet of Quavers, insubstantial and tasteless, not worth bothering with. Am I wrong?” Yes! I went to the Hundred final, not in a professional capacity (thank you Laura de Lisle), and saw Tom Curran paint a masterpiece of a match-winning innings. Cricket is still cricket, even if you play it on the beach. Also, Kim, love your emails but I’m a bit worried about your diet. KFC and sherry trifle… call yourself a Guardian reader?
Updated
38th over: England 222-4 (Malan 117, Livingstone 11) Livingstone is cranking up the engine, but Mitchell sees him coming and fires it in at his feet, so he ends up playing a push into the covers. Eoin Morgan pops up on commentary to remind us that Lord’s often smiles on medium-pacers, from Tim Murtagh in a million games for Middlesex to Colin Grandhomme in the 2019 World Cup final.
37th over: England 217-4 (Malan 116, Livingstone 7) England need to go up a gear here. Malan, recognising this, slog-sweeps Ravindra up the slope for six.
36th over: England 206-4 (Malan 106, Livingstone 6) Mitchell follows up his triumph with some tidiness, allowing just four singles. He has the figures of a proper bowler: 2-0-8-1. And Liam Livingstone is playing like a proper batter: six off 11.
“So,” says James Walsh, “Stokes, Buttler, Malan and Livingstone in good form. Moeen is Moeen. Root, Bairstow and Brook look like they’ll never middle it again. Roy has a dodgy back. Bowlers are building up nicely, apart from Rash and Wood who one assumes are in chambers made from cotton wool. Class being permanent and so forth, I’d have Brook in for Roy as the spare batter, and cross my fingers that the Yorkists rediscover their collective mojo.”
35th over: England 202-4 (Malan 104, Livingstone 4) Malan, facing Jamieson, flicks a single to long leg to bring up England’s 200. It also brings up a 200 of Malan’s own: since the birth of his son, Dawid Malan Jr, he has now made 200 for once out, at an average of 200. And he may well be eyeing a Daddy hundred.
34th over: England 196-4 (Malan 103, Livingstone 1) What a competitor Daryl Mitchell is. He was last seen sitting in the crowd, nursing a dislocated finger. Now he’s having to bowl, because of a similar injury to Southee, and it’s taken him three balls to remove England’s most dangerous batter.
Updated
WICKET! Buttler c sub (Boult) b Mitchell 36 (England 195-4)
Buttler hits a drop-kick straight to mid-off!
Updated
33rd over: England 192-3 (Malan 102, Buttler 35) Jamieson returns, after bowling better than his figures in his first two spells. Buttler pulls out the scoop and gets two for it. Somewhere in the dressing-room, Joe Root emits a rueful chuckle.
Updated
32nd over: England 187-3 (Malan 101, Buttler 31) And that is drinks, with England on top.
Hundred to Malan!
Malan squirts his way to 99 with a nick for four off Henry that goes through the gap at first slip. Get a slip in! Henry makes him wait, going dot, dot, dot, but then there’s one to flick off the toes and Malan picks up two to go to 101 off 96 balls. It’s his fifth hundred in ODIs – not his best, because of all the nicks and misses, but still a fine achievement.
Updated
31st over: England 181-3 (Malan 95, Buttler 31) Facing Lister, Malan almost gives it away with an uppish cover drive, but it skims over the ring. There must have been seven or eight of those moments today. Buttler, whose touch is very deft at the moment, adds a tickle for four. ODIs can be quite long, can’t they?
30th over: England 173-3 (Malan 93, Buttler 25) Latham takes Phillips off after that battering and recalls Matt Henry, who was so exacting with the new ball. He is less so now, letting Buttler tuck him for an easy two and then offering Malan a full wide freebie that is just asking to be caressed for four.
Malan is into the 90s for the second time in a row: can he go four better than his 96 at The Oval? My suspicion is that he can.
29th over: England 164-3 (Malan 88, Buttler 21) Lister again, keeping it tidy again and beating Malan with a wide one. Curiously, Malan has made only five off the last five overs, though he hasn’t had much of the strike – only eight balls.
28th over: England 162-3 (Malan 87, Buttler 20) Tim Southee is off the field and not expected to bowl again today. So Phillips is filling in and, as Naser Hussain observes, Buttler needs to take advantage. He plays an inside-out drive for six, a late dab for four, a flick for two and another lofted drive for four. Sixteen off the over! Buttler has cruised to 20 off 14 balls, in a different league from Root (seven off his first 21).
Updated
27th over: England 146-3 (Malan 87, Buttler 4) Back to seam, in the form of Ben Lister, who bowls a tight over for just two. England are dawdling a bit.
Of all the serious batters in this series (top seven, minimum ten runs), the slowest scorer, with a strike rate of 54 per hundred balls, is Harry Brook.
26th over: England 144-3 (Malan 86, Buttler 3) Buttler, unlike Root and Brook, has been in good form. Facing Phillips, he gets the scoreboard moving right away, although, like Brook’s, his first attempt at a big shot is mistimed – a lofted off drive that goes for two.
Dawid Malan to 1,000 ODI runs in 21 innings - the same as Viv Richards, Kevin Pietersen and Babar Azam.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) September 15, 2023
25th over: England 139-3 (Malan 84, Buttler 0) So at the halfway stage, honours are about even. The pitch seems to be sticking a bit, the pundits are saying, which means that five-and-a-half an over may be a better effort than it looks. A lot will depend on whether Jos Buttler gets going.
Updated
WICKET! Brook c Phillips b Ravindra 10 (England 139-3)
Pulled straight to midwicket! Brook, who can be so domineering, departs tamely for his fourth low score out of five. Would you take him to the World Cup?
Updated
24th over: England 135-2 (Malan 83, Brook 7) Latham gives Jamieson a breather and summons Glenn Phillips, so it’s spin at both ends. Brook tries to go large but succeeds only in chipping into the no-man’s-land between long-off and long-on.
Updated
23rd over: England 132-2 (Malan 83, Brook 4) Buoyed by the wicket of Root, Ravindra bowls an over for only three. He has a very respectable 5-0-32-1.
22nd over: England 129-2 (Malan 81, Brook 3) Say what you like about Malan, he gets the job done. He is beginning to win the battle with Jamieson. A cover drive for four, a cut for four more (misfielded, again), a flick for a single… and finally a slog for six! That takes him to 1000 runs in ODIs, from only 21 matches, with six fifties and four hundreds. That might be five and five in a few minutes’ time.
Updated
21st over: England 112-2 (Malan 66, Brook 1) Harry Brook is off the mark straight away with a cut that brings a misfield at backward point, rather backing up Gary Naylor’s point. Malan picks up four with a reverse sweep. What a run machine he is in this format. And yet, probably not in the top four England batters who strike the most fear into ODI bowlers – that would be Buttler, Stokes, Bairstow and Brook.
Updated
WICKET! Root b Ravindra 29 (England 107-2)
Got him at last! Root falls to the one shot he has played well today, the slog-sweep, as Ravindra brings the ball back in, down the slope, to hit the off bail. Root did show some grit to finish with 29 off 40 balls, when he could easily have been out for 7 off 20.
Updated
20th over: England 106-1 (Malan 61, Root 29) Malan tries to go on the counter-attack against Jamieson, without much conviction. A pull shot goes just over midwicket’s head, a square drive goes for just a single. NZ have been on top for the past 20 minutes with nothing to show for it.
19th over: England 96-1 (Malan 52, Root 28) Now that Root has found some fluency, Malan has mislaid his. He’s once, twice, three times a-playing and a-missing at Jamieson. And then Root too hits thin air as he goes for the ramp. It’s not Test cricket, Joe, you can’t just play any old shot.
Great stuff from Jamieson, who, like Reece Topley, is himself again after a spell on the sidelines.
I know (hard though it is to credit) that this isn't the last match of England's season, but there's a very last day of term feel to both sides' play so far @TimdeLisle.
— Gary Naylor 85 (@garynaylor85) September 15, 2023
Is it possible to maintain intensity when matches like this must feel routine to many of the players?
17th over: England 93-1 (Malan 51, Root 26) When we’re out of sorts, some of us go shopping, others go out drinking or disappear into our shells. Joe Root just needs to face some spin. He gets two bad balls from Ravindra, brings out the slog-sweep and hits a four and a six – the first of the day. This may still be the worst 26 he will ever make, but he’s getting there.
Updated
Yet another fifty to Malan!
16th over: England 81-1 (Malan 50, Root 15) Jamieson was just changing ends – still a bit of a surprise as he had started so well and Lord’s, with its slope, is a harder place to change ends than most. Malan, still rather wary of him, pushes a single to reach fifty for the third time out of three in this series: 50 off 50 balls. He’s had some luck – two play-and-misses in this over, on top of some nicks – but he has put away the bad ball very decisively. And that’s drinks, with England going pretty well given Root’s struggles.
Updated
15th over: England 79-1 (Malan 49, Root 14) What could possibly get Root into some kind of form? Some spin, perhaps … Latham puzzles the commentators by taking Jamieson off (2-1-3-0) and turning to Rachin Ravindra’s slow left-arm. Root celebrates by pulling his first ball for four. The fifty partnership comes up off 59 balls. Root has only about a quarter of those runs, but he’s still there and he’ll probably get a hundred.
Updated
Root dropped again!
14th over: England 71-1 (Malan 46, Root 9) Root nudges to leg for a single. A Sky caption shows that this is his highest score in the series, following scores of 6, 0 and 4. And now, facing Lister, he’s dropped again. You could make it up, but nobody would believe you. It’s a nick to wide slip again, and it’s spilt by by Tim Southee. He too goes off the field with a finger injury. You wait ages for a slip to hurt himself taking or missing a catch, and then three come along at once.
13th over: England 62-1 (Malan 39, Root 7) Jamieson to Malan, and it’s a maiden. I don’t know what’s going off out there.
Updated
12th over: England 62-1 (Malan 39, Root 7) Lister continues and has Root dropped! He was trying a late cut, a shot he can usually play in his sleep. Perhaps surprised by the bounce, he steers it to the one, wide slip, Finn Allen, who goes with one hand and spills it. And joins Mitchell in the treatment room.
Root now has seven off 21 balls. Is he playing his way out of the World Cup squad?
Updated
11th over: England 59-1 (Malan 37, Root 6) Matt Henry takes a break after an exemplary opening spell of 5-0-17-1 and hands over to Kyle Jamieson. He’s been expensive in this series, as he makes his way back from injury, but he starts well now and Root can only pick up a two with a slash past backward point.
Here’s John Starbuck, picking up on Matt Doherty’s line from the 4th over. “I know we speak of Daddy Hundreds,” John says, “following Gooch’s coining of the phrase, but when Nat Sciver-Brunt gets going again, will she score a Mummy Hundred?” Good question! Her 120 yesterday, the fastest ever for England’s women, was the mother and father of ODI hundreds.
Updated
10th over: England 56-1 (Malan 36, Root 4) After that big over, Southee is replaced by Ben Lister. His left-arm angle colludes with the slope to send the ball across Root, who tries to send it back where it came from and only succeeds in getting a nick, just wide of slip. Malan gets a nick too, but it’s a thick inside edge that goes for four. One of these batters is in form and in luck, and the other is not. The Powerplay ends with England perhaps narrowly ahead, because of losing just the one wicket, though it could easily have been more.
9th over: England 48-1 (Malan 30, Root 2) Breaking news from the England camp: Joe Root has made a run! He plays the shot he tried first ball – down the track, whipping to leg – and gets a single for it. But then he misses another ramp. He recovers to pick up another single with a leg glance. Baby steps.
8th over: England 45-1 (Malan 29, Root 0) Someone needs to get England going again, and Malan gets the message. Facing Southee, he hits a square force, a flick-pull and a rasping cover drive … three fours in a row! He has raced to 29 from 25 balls.
Bad news for NZ: Daryl Mitchell dislocated a finger taking that catch to get rid of Jonny Bairstow. Hope he’s able to bat.
Updated
7th over: England 33-1 (Malan 17, Root 0) Root gets five balls to face, but it doesn’t help. Henry is still on the spot and Root isn’t too hard to tie down at the moment. Frustrated, he tries his new favourite shot, the ramp, and misses that. There’s a big appeal as the ball hits something and goes through to Tom Latham, but the umpire reckons it was pad and he’s right. Root has none off seven.
6th over: England 32-1 (Malan 16, Root 0) Southee very nearly gets Malan LBW with one that swings into him, but he’s saved by the slope as the ball does too much. And he may have got a nick as well… Root, again left with just one ball to face, manages to get bat on it this time – the toe of the bat. It’s fascinating to see such a fluent player out of form.
5th over: England 28-1 (Malan 13, Root 0) So here comes Joe Root, England’s senior batter – and, lately, their weakest link. He has made precisely ten runs in this series. He goes straight on the attack, taking a step forward to whip to leg, but not actually managing to hit the ball. Well bowled, Matt Henry (3-0-13-1).
Updated
WICKET! Bairstow c Mitchell b Henry 13 (England 28-1)
After all those quirky nicks, Bairstow falls to a standard one. Henry’s accuracy bears fruit as Dary Mitchell takes a sharp low catch. It has to be checked by the third umpire but it’s clean.
Updated
4th over: England 26-0 (Bairstow 12, Malan 12) At last, a ball on the pads, from Southee to Malan: two leg-byes. And another: four runs, clipped away to the Tavern. Before that, there was another big loopy edge from Bairstow, who seems to be determined to get caught somewhere between cover and deep third.
An email! “What are the chances,” wonders Matt Doherty, “of Harry Brook scoring a daddy hundred?” I suspect you’re right – quite high… although he is an all-or-nothing merchant, and just lately he’s gone from all to nothing. Still, in my book, well worth a place on the plane to the World Cup.
Updated
3rd over: England 19-0 (Bairstow 11, Malan 8) Another loose shot from Bairstow, another two runs for it. He wafts at Henry, taking his bottom hand off the bat and snicking over backward point. Again, he locates the middle of the bat afterwards, adding a two and a single. The bowlers haven’t strayed onto the pads once, and they’ve still gone for a run a ball. “This looks a very, very good pitch,” Kumar Sangakkara said a few minutes ago. And he should know: he’s an ex-president of MCC.
2nd over: England 14-0 (Bairstow 6, Malan 8) From the Nursery End, it’s Tim Southee. Dawid Malan shows what good touch he’s in by going down the track and cover-driving for four on the up. He leaves the next ball, then eases the one after for four more, to cover’s right. Has Malan forgotten that he’s supposed to be a slow starter?
Updated
1st over: England 6-0 (Bairstow 6, Malan 0) Jonny Bairstow was out to the first ball of Wednesday’s game and he very nearly does it again! Matt Henry finds enough away swing to draw a leading edge, which loops up just high enough to elude the man in the ring at cover. They run two and Bairstow finds the middle of the bat next ball, with a crisp off drive.
The English summer has officially lost the plot. We used to be able to depend on it to deliver grey skies, drizzle, and a steady temperature of 16C/61F. This year we had a heatwave in June, a monsoon in July, a mixed bag in August and another heatwave in September, which continues today. The sky is blue, the air is warm, the summer dresses are on, and there may even be the odd MCC member with his jacket off.
Stokes not doing enough to secure his place. Tough, but you have to maintain standards
— Rick Burin (@rickburin) September 15, 2023
Teams in full: both
England 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Sam Curran, 9 David Willey, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Reece Topley.
New Zealand 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt, wkt), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Ben Lister.
Teams in brief: NZ
The crowd also miss out on New Zealand’s star player in this series, Trent Boult. Rotation, rotation. He gives way to his old mate Tim Southee, and Lockie Ferguson is replaced by Matt Henry.
Teams in brief: England
Stokes dropped! Buttler leaves out the two stars of the win at The Oval, Stokes and Woakes, as well as Gus Atkinson. Frustrating for the crowd, but they’re all rotated out. In come Harry Brook, David Willey and Brydon Carse. Still no Jason Roy.
Toss: England win and bat
Jos Buttler wins the toss and feels like batting first, which went reasonably well on Wednesday.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the OBO. It’s England v New Zealand. It’s a 50-over game. It’s Lord’s. Just call it a tie now … although these two forward-thinking sides have found a new way not be separated. Instead of tying a match, or a so-called tie-breaker, they now take turns to win easily, and end up tying the series instead.
The T20 series finished 2-2, and so will this ODI series if New Zealand can dig deep and win today. That is one very plausible scenario. Another is that Jos Buttler’s England, so commanding at Southampton and The Oval, carry that momentum a few miles further north.
On Wednesday Ben Stokes bagged the headlines with his monumental 182, but the bowling was top-class too. Bereft of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid, an attack led by the great Chris Woakes still had enough variety to complete a crushing win – two left-armers, two spinners, one enforcer and one ideal son-in-law.
Crushing, except that these New Zealanders are too cool and calm to be crushed. Two games into the T20 series, they were on the ropes, yet they bounced back with two big victories. They have the bowler of this series in Trent Boult plus a battery of pacemen, a strong hand of spinners and a powerful batting order. And even this level-headed bunch may be a little fired up by the thought of letting England lift another trophy at Lord’s.
It’s a lunchtime start, 12.30pm BST, which means that if there’s a dramatic final act, people will be back from school or work in time to enjoy it. I’ll be back around 12.05 with the toss and the teams.
Updated
