So it’s on to Lord’s on Friday for the series denouement. That’s it from me today, I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton’s match report from the Oval:
And here’s Jos Buttler: “Really pleased with the performance. There’s levels that we can keep achieving, there’s more in the tank.”
Ben Stokes is, of course, the player of the match. He downplays his achievement – “It was a good wicket,” he says – and says England wanted to put New Zealand under more pressure. He says his injury needed a bit of treatment but his fitness is “getting better and better”.
England win by 181 runs
A huge win for England, largely on the back of Ben Stokes’s magical knock of 182 earlier on – a new ODI record for England.
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WICKET! Lister st Buttler b Livingstone 4 (New Zealand 187 all out)
The crowd looks pretty sparse at the Oval now and you can’t really blame the punters who have drifted away – this has been over since about half five. Livingstone makes it official by dismissing Lister, Buttler making a smart stumping to bring an end to things.
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38th over: New Zealand 186-9 (Ferguson 4, Lister 4) Given he’s batting below Boult in the New Zealand order, I was looking forward to seeing Ben Lister bat, though he appears disappointingly competent. Indeed, he cracks Topley over mid-off for a couple more to the New Zealand total.
37th over: New Zealand 182-9 (Ferguson 4, Lister 1) Livingstone has two for 15 from his four overs – he’s bowled very nicely.
WICKET! Boult c Moeen b Livingstone 2 (New Zealand 181-9)
Boult slogs at Livingstone and can only sky the ball over cover where Moeen scurries back and takes a comfortable catch.
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36th over: New Zealand 179-8 (Ferguson 3, Boult 2) Topley continues as England look to wrap things up. But he can’t do it here, the batters pretty comfortably seeing things out.
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35th over: New Zealand 176-8 (Ferguson 1, Boult 1) And that’s over. England are closing in on a huge winning margin.
WICKET! Phillips lbw b Livingstone 72 (New Zealand 173-8)
We’ve strayed towards slightly farcical territory. Livingstone changes ends and looks to have got a wicket, hitting Phillips on the pad. The finger goes up … but Phillips reviews immediately. The slo-mo suggests, to me at least, that it’s hit the pad just before bat but the third umpire disagrees and the decision is reversed. Close one. From the next ball, Phillips misses a long hop and is hit in the box. England appeal, not out says the umpire, but Livingstone insists on the review, suggesting the ball was on its way down so not bouncing over. And he’s right! Phillips goes in bizarre fashion.
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34th over: New Zealand 173-7 (Phillips 72, Ferguson 0) A fine return from Topley, and a slightly odd innings from Jamieson – 14 from 25 balls.
WICKET! Jamieson c Buttler b Topley 14 (New Zealand 173-7)
Reece Topley (6-0-23-1) returns to the attack. And we get a real rarity – Topley hits Jamieson on the pad, forcing Buttler to dive to his right to prevent runs. But in doing so he diverts the ball back … onto the helmet that is placed behind him! Five penalty runs, one for the scrapbook. And Buttler is quickly in the action again, taking a smart catch as Jamieson tries to force off the back foot and edges through to the keeper.
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33rd over: New Zealand 166-6 (Phillips 72, Jamieson 12) Phillips finally unleashes, getting down on one knee and thrashing Moeen into the south London sky. Terrific shot, six runs. Caesars Palace’s Jerk It Out blares from the Tannoy. More than 20 years old that song. We had a blast of Reef’s Place Your Hands after a boundary earlier – 1996 that came out. It’s genuinely something that fascinates me: the ageing cricket playlist. There’s definitely a Spin in that somewhere.
32nd over: New Zealand 156-6 (Phillips 63, Jamieson 11) Livingstone once more. Wide, single, dot, single, single, single, dot. Which in Morse Code spells out “another uneventful over”.
31st over: New Zealand 151-6 (Phillips 61, Jamieson 9) The required rate is up over 11 now. Moeen continues and this time Phillips finds the rope, cutting a touch backward of square for four. A single into the deep brings up the 150 but there’s no sense that this is a serious chase at this point.
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30th over: New Zealand 143-6 (Phillips 55, Jamieson 7) Liam Livingstone comes into the attack as England search for the quartet of wickets that will bring an early halt to proceedings. He finds a bit of turn but the batting pair are able to find the gaps for a few singles nevertheless – four of them from the over.
29th over: New Zealand 139-6 (Phillips 53, Jamieson 5) Glenn Phillips brings up a hard-earned half-century, cutting Moeen through the covers for four. He’s led a slightly charmed life at times, particularly when Chris Woakes was making the ball talk early doors, but this innings of largely quiet accumulation will go down as one of the few bright spots for New Zealand today. Eight from the over.
28th over: New Zealand 131-6 (Phillips 47, Jamieson 3) Curran continues and there’s little in the way of fireworks, though he almost fools Jamieson with a slower ball, the batter’s mistimed poke at the ball dropping just short of mid off.
27th over: New Zealand 128-6 (Phillips 45, Jamieson 3) Phillips looks to break the shackles by heaving Moeen into the stands at long on but the damage has been done. From the last Moeen beats Jamieson with a slower one outside off … and we have a review for a possible stumping but the batter has his toes planted in the crease.
26th over: New Zealand 120-6 (Phillips 38, Jamieson 2) A big appeal as Curran catches Phillips square on the box. Looked a bit high on first viewing and the umpire refuses to add insult to injury. Phillips has been in the wars this innings. Just one from the over.
25th over: New Zealand 119-6 (Phillips 38, Jamieson 1) Jamieson gets off the mark with a single down the ground, and it takes a fine piece of fielding on the cover boundary to deny Phillips four from the last. Four and a wicket from the over – and with Ravindra disappeared any slim lingering hopes of New Zealand chasing this down.
WICKET! Ravindra b Moeen 28 (New Zealand 116-6)
This pair were closing in on a 50 partnership but Moeen has scuppered that. Ravindra attempts to cut a delivery that is too full, too straight and, cramped for room, can only watch the ball crash into the stumps.
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24th over: New Zealand 115-5 (Phillips 35, Ravindra 28) Sam Curran switches to the Vauxhall End and is tucked away sumptuously by Ravindra down to cow corner, though the shot was anything but a slog. He gets a second off the over with a pull down to backward square leg.
23rd over: New Zealand 104-5 (Phillips 33, Ravindra 19) Time for some spin as Moeen enters the fray. Phillips brings up the New Zealand 100 with a single from the first ball of the over and the batters find the gaps comfortably to milk a risk-free-but-not-really-enough five from the over.
22nd over: New Zealand 99-5 (Phillips 29, Ravindra 18) Atkinson rumbles in once more, zipping one into Phillips’s thigh pad but being driven sweetly down the ground by Ravindra. Seven from the over.
21st over: New Zealand 92-5 (Phillips 29, Ravindra 12) Phillips is cleared to continue. Curran also continues. Ravindra nudges him into the leg side for a couple then repeats the trick for one more – he’s looked pretty organised and settled out there, in contrast to some of his more experienced teammates. A fine diving stop from Topley on the boundary denies the recovered Phillips four more.
20th over: New Zealand 86-5 (Phillips 26, Ravindra 9) Ravindra drives Atkinson through the covers for four, Moeen Ali just failing to keep the ball in play despite a slide-tackle towards the ropes. Atkinson responds with three dots and then a single to crush any hopes of a big over for New Zealand. He hits Phillips on the helmet with the last and we pause for a concussion test.
19th over: New Zealand 81-5 (Phillips 26, Ravindra 4) Phillips skitters through for two off the first ball of Curran’s next, is beaten by the left-armer next up but then drives beautifully wide of mid off for four, the shot of this New Zealand innings thus far. Curran, stung, cuts him in half with one that jags back next up.
18th over: New Zealand 75-5 (Phillips 20, Ravindra 4) England review again as Ravindra edges Atkinson through to Root at slip … but this time it’s hip rather than bat and the allrounder survives. He celebrates by punching through the covers for four to get off the mark.
17th over: New Zealand 70-5 (Phillips 20, Ravindra 0) A great comeback from Curran after a (briefly) chastening start to his spell.
WICKET! Mitchell c Buttler b Curran 17 (New Zealand 70-5)
Curran comes into the attack, with New Zealand needing nine an over from this point. With that in mind, Mitchell hooks his first ball high into the leg side … and it drops inches in front of a diving Topley in the deep. The second Phillips carves over point for four but Curran comes back well and finds a little of the movement that was on offer early on, Mitchell playing-and-missing with another attempted swipe. There’s a huge appeal from the last as the ball snicks something on it’s way through to Buttler … England review … and Snicko confirms ball has hit bat. Mitchell goes!
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16th over: New Zealand 64-4 (Mitchell 16, Phillips 14) Atkinson continues after the drinks break and again he’s tidy, though without finding the same movement or carrying the same threat as the opening pair. Just four singles from the over again.
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15th over: New Zealand 60-4 (Mitchell 14, Phillips 12) Woakes does indeed continue into the eighth over of his opening spell, and picks up where he left off, beating Phillips all ends up outside off. The batters could be forgiven for thinking about survival here, and starting the run chase again in the next over. Curran misfields in the covers with a potential run out on the cards but there’s few fireworks otherwise and surely Woakes will get a breather now, figures of 8-0-31-3 sat snugly in his back pocket.
14th over: New Zealand 56-4 (Mitchell 14, Phillips 9) Gus Atkinson replaces Reece Topley, who while being overshadowed by Woakes, also bowled a brilliant opening spell of 6-0-23-1. Atkinson begins tidily enough, a series of four singles the only runs allowed.
13th over: New Zealand 52-4 (Mitchell 12, Phillips 7) Woakes, unsurprisingly, continues into a seventh over of his allotted 10. He sends down a no-ball with his second delivery … but Mitchell can’t make contact with the free hit. A bit of nudge and nurdle takes New Zealand past 50 and gets the scoreboard ticking over, though if Buttler was thinking about a bowling change, Woakes offers a rejoinder at the end of the over, beating Phillips twice outside off.
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12th over: New Zealand 46-4 (Mitchell 10, Phillips 4) A boundary, a blessed boundary for New Zealand: Mitchell hoiks a lofted straight drive back over Topley’s head and gets just about enough on it to take it over the rope. New Zealand needed that and they need a few more. And they get more a couple of balls later, Phillips upper-edging over the slips for four.
11th over: New Zealand 37-4 (Mitchell 5, Phillips 0) Woakes welcomes Phillips to the middle with (yet) another fine ball that shapes away and beats the edge. 6-0-21-3 for an opening spell defending 369 – you’d take that.
WICKET! Latham b Woakes 3 (New Zealand 37-4)
Woakes goes into the sixth over of his spell and it’s more sensational stuff. He beats Latham’s outside edge – again – with a jaffer that wobbles away but next up sends a yorker straight through the New Zealand captain’s defences, crashing into the stumps. Just exceptional bowling.
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10th over: New Zealand 36-3 (Mitchell 4, Latham 3) Latham stays watchful as Topley probes outside off but finally is tempted to prod at one and again is relieved to see the ball miss the outside edge. Another fine over from the left-armer – just two from it.
9th over: New Zealand 34-3 (Mitchell 3, Latham 3) Woakes begins his fifth over with another cracking delivery to add to the collection, swinging gloriously away from Latham and across the outside edge. The New Zealand captain does well to miss it but he does get off the mark with a single from the next. This pair are just trying to steady the ship, which is necessary but suboptimal in the grand scheme of things given the required rate is already well over eight.
8th over: New Zealand 30-3 (Mitchell 2, Latham 0) Topley continues and continues to find prodigious movement, jagging one viciously back into the dangerous Mitchell. Mitchell can’t find the gaps and the dots mount up – five of them – before a back-foot punch through the covers gets him off the mark and gives the scorers something to do.
7th over: New Zealand 28-3 (Mitchell 0, Latham 0) Woakes finishes another fine over by cutting Latham in half with a beautiful inswinger. The England man has figures of 4-0-16-2.
WICKET! Nicholls c Curran b Woakes 4 (New Zealand 28-3)
This is unravelling rather quickly for New Zealand. Nicholls gets himself cramped for space in attempting to flick the ball to leg and can only flick it gently to Curran at midwicket. An ugly dismissal and an ugly start to this run chase for the visitors.
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6th over: New Zealand 24-2 (Nicholls 2, Mitchell 0) That was the last ball of the over and was about as plumb as you can get. New Zealand in big trouble early doors.
WICKET! Conway lbw b Topley 9 (New Zealand 24-2)
Topley continues with the required rate already creeping up towards eight an over and beats the ball again, Nicholls the latest to be left groping at thin air. Conway finally finds the middle though, punching sweetly through the covers for an effortless four, but he’s gone next ball! Topley goes full and finds a little movement back towards the batter, thunking him on the pad, and the finger goes up like a rocket.
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5th over: New Zealand 19-1 (Conway 4, Nicholls 1) Nicholls gets off the mark immediately, running the ball towards third man for a single. And from the last Conway plays-and-misses again. It’s been a very good start from England’s bowlers.
WICKET! Young c Buttler b Woakes 12 (New Zealand 18-1)
This was coming. Woakes sticks to a tight line and length, forcing Young into another dance-and-heave. This time, though, he gets a tickle on the ball and it’s through to Buttler for the breakthrough.
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4th over: New Zealand 16-0 (Conway 4, Young 11) Conway also tries to get himself ticking, having a big heave at the first ball of Topley’s next and connecting only with south London air. It’s not settled him down though – another thick edge squirts away but lands safely and Conway moves to a hessian-sack-scratchy four from 14 balls.
3rd over: New Zealand 14-0 (Conway 3, Young 10) Young dances a couple of yards down the track at Woakes, just to get himself going a little bit as much as anything. And it does the trick – next ball he’s served up a half-tracker that he puts away for four through midwicket, and an attempted slower ball from the last is overpitched and punched through the covers for four more.
2nd over: New Zealand 5-0 (Conway 3, Young 2) Reece Topley at the other end, and he has Young playing and missing outside off. Conway is beaten all ends up too with one that hoops away – the New Zealand openers are struggling to find the bat at all, never mind the middle, early on. To emphasise the point, Conway is a foot away from clipping straight into the hands of Bairstow at midwicket, but he picks up two from the last, carving slightly awkwardly through point.
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1st over: New Zealand 2-0 (Conway 1, Young 1) Woakes begins with a couple of dots to the left-handed Conway, then tempts him the batter into a groping prod at a wide one that zips through to Buttler. Conway gets off the mark with an inside edge for one, amd Young does likewise with an outside edge to backward point. Solid start from Woakes, who roars an lbw appeal from the last, though it looks to have pitched outside leg.
Out stride Will Young and Devon Conway. Chris Woakes will open the bowling for England …
Hello all. Well, that was fun. Another quite magical Ben Stokes innings, some ultra-high-quality pace bowling from Trent Boult, and a limp England collapse in the final eight overs that means we still have a game on. New Zealand will have to come out with their collective foot to the floor, but at one point they would’ve expected to be chasing 400.
@tomdaviesE17 nice to see the Beehive getting a mention at the denouement of Stokes' record-breaking innings. Not enough credit given to the importance of boozers near cricket grounds. Beehive a fine example of the genre.
— Chasing The Dragon 🏴 (@chsingthedragon) September 13, 2023
Yeah, we need a dull enough game for us to meander away about good cricket pubs (the Prince of Wales, in that posh square off Kennington Road being another fave near the Oval). All of which can be chewed over through the evening.
But not with me. My work here is done, and John Ashdown will be your friend through New Zealand’s reply. Thanks for reading and for your emails. Bye.
“A breathtaking innings by an astonishing player,” gushes Colum Fordham. “You run out of superlatives with Stokes. He almost seems more dangerous as a batsman when hobbling. He clearly justifies his position in the ODI team as a batter but even the mighty Stokes will have to field in the World Cup (bowling being out of the question, I’d imagine) and his mobility is in doubt. Surely he needs a bit of a break before the tournament starts?”
Yeah that should be him back in the easy-chair for a bit. He’s amply demonstrated that his recall, and rescinded retirement, was justified and for all the earlier chat about whether he’d have been better off getting his knee sorted first, it’s understandable that he should make ODI cricket the priority. He has always been a greater asset in the 50-over than the 20-over game, and today’s innings was mighty and majestic. He should fix the knee pronto after the World Cup mind.
New Zealand need 369 to win
That was a curiously limp end to the innings but credit to New Zealand’s death bowlers, Boult in particular, for seizing their chance. Nonetheless, England have a formidable total, for which they’re hugely indebted, again, to Ben Stokes for a career-best knock and to Dawid Malan, who made hay with him through the main part of the innings. England should be favourites.
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Wicket! Atkinson b Boult 2, England 368 all out
Boult castles Atkinson with a full yorker that the batter clatters onto his stumps, to complete an excellent five-for. And this has been quite the mini-collapse at the other end. Topley is stranded at the other end without having faced.
Wicket! Woakes c Mitchell b Lister 3
48th over: England 368-9 (Atkinson 2). Suddenly, England are at risk of not using all their overs. Lister, bowling his final over, tucks up the batters nicely. And in their frustration, England run a bye that’s barely on and Woakes struggles to make his ground, but after a review he’s not out. He is out at the end of the over though, as Woakes’s drive down the ground is taken low by Mitchell. England have lost five for 32. Lister has three wickets for 69
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Wicket! Curran c Conway b Boult 3
47th over: England 364-8 (Woakes 1). Boult is brought back at the death, smartly beating Curran outside off first up. The batter then swipes a single and Boult has a slanter called wide but is unlucky to have another similarly called – looked a decent, deceptive slower ball to me. It’s typically masterful death bowling though, Boult changing his angles, pace and length. And it gets the wicket it deserves when a frustrated Curran tries to hack away on the offside and Conway runs round to take. Boult has four, and that’s a brilliant over.
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46th over: England 360-7 (Curran 2, Woakes 0). Ferguson juts a short ball into Curran that he has to fend awkwardly downwards. This is a better approach, if you get the line right. But if you give Moeen a smidgeon of room he can pull you towards the crowd, and this one is fumbled into it by a sprawling Phillips for four. He falls next ball though, pulling one from outside off to a diving Phillips at deep square leg. This time he takes the catch.
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Wicket! Mooen c Phillips b Ferguson 12
Moeen has a go late on and is well held at deep square leg
45th over: England 355-6 (Moeen 8, Curran 1). Another full toss is met by Stokes attempting to find the Beehive pub beer garden but has to settle for halfway up the stands for a SIX that gives him England’s highest ever individual ODI score. Alas though, he swiftly then perishes, miscuing a slog to deep square leg. Curran is off the mark with a single before Moeen punishes a wide lister delivery with a lovely cut behind square for four. Lister just beginning to look a bit tired.
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Wicket! Stokes c Young b Lister 182
No sooner had Stokes brought up England’s highest ever individual ODI score than he holes out. A mighty, magnificent innings ends.
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44th over: England 341-5 (Stokes 176, Moeen 2). Moeen is almost run out scampering through to get off the mark with a single, Nicholls had time to hit the stumps but doesn’t take it and a rash throw misses with Moeen out of his ground. Stokes also gets away with one in this over, a mistimed pull dobbing up towards midwicket but no fielder can get there in time. A better over from Ferguson.
Wicket! Livingstone c Nicholls b Lister 11
43rd over: England 336-5 (Stokes 173, Moeen 0). Lister gets a go from the Vauxhall End this time, and after a couple of fine deliveries hurls down a knee-high full toss that Stokes swivels and helps straight into the crowd behind square leg for yet another SIX. Then, a review, as what looked a bump ball that Livingstone carved to backward point is questioned by New Zealand – and he’s out: The ball bounced before hitting the bat. The second astute successful review by the visitors, and Lister deservedly has his first wicket.
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42nd over: England 328-4 (Stokes 166, Livingstone 10). Phillips continues, as a few ominous clouds hover to the north of the ground. He’s been New Zealand’s frontline spinner today with Ravindra expensive and little-used. But Stokes gives him the treatment too, with a glorious straight drive for SIX into the old pavilion. The next one is slogged-and-missed, and hits Stokes on the pad. NZ review, and it’s umpire’s call, nipping into Stokes more than it initially looked to have done, but not enough to change the not-out decision. Stokes responds to the reprieve with a hoick on the legside for SIX more. The onslaught resumes.
41st over: England 314-4 (Stokes 153, Livingstone 9). Ferguson had been meaner in this spell but he sounds a howling wide down legside that Latham can only parry, adding an extra bye to the wide. Other than that, they deal in ones and twos.
40th over: England 307-4 (Stokes 152, Livingstone 5). I was about to type, “It’s a little more subdued in Kennington now, this pair milking Phillips for singles.” Then I’m forced to put a line through it as Stokes larrups a slog into the posh seats behind wide long-on for SIX. He goes past 150, an extraordinary effort.
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39th over: England 296-4 (Stokes 143, Livingstone 3). Lockie Ferguson, expensive today, returns from the Vauxhall End, and keeps things tighter with a fuller more stringent line and restricting the batters to singles.
38th over: England 290-4 (Stokes 140, Livingstone 0). Phillips returns, as England must be wondering whether their highest ODI score v New Zealand (408) is in reach. The chances of such are jolted when Buttler is dismissed, but not before a detailed check for a back foot no-ball which just about falls in the bowler’s favour. In comes Livingstone, in very different circumstances to those to which he arrived at the crease on Sunday. His first ball is a dot.
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Wicket! Buttler c Young b Phillips 38
Buttler holes out to deep midwicket, but before he’s left the field, the umpires double-check for a back foot no-ball but, wide though it was on the crease, his feet came down initially just inside the line. A rare stroke of fortune for NZ today. Buttler has to go
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37th over: England 287-3 (Stokes 138, Buttler 37). Buttler doesn’t quite get hold of a legside slog but it doesn’t carry to Conway at deep midwicket. Then Stokes does get hold of one, smacking another SIX over wide long-on; it’s well held by the fan in the crowd too – good cricket all round. Jamieson responds with an old-school bouncer that’s not given as a wide. File under: Small mercies.
36th over: England 276-3 (Stokes 128, Buttler 36). Buttler is motoring now, rocking back and thwacking Lister away on the onside for four. He looks less comfortable when Lister sends a lifter into his ribcage as the batter advances. Stokes lofts/slogs a cover drive aerially for two, and Buttler completes the over by leaning into a pull to square leg for four. These two are having fun, even while racking up bruises.
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35th over: England 264-3 (Stokes 125, Buttler 28). Jamieson comes back on at the Vauxhall End as Latham holds Boult’s final two overs back. Buttler sends a deft scoop over the keeper’s head for four, drawing applause in the crowd from, among others, badger-advocacy’s Brian May in the crowd. More lax fielding on the boundary hands Buttler another four when Conway slide-tackles his pull shot over the ropes. Buttler has 28 from 17 balls as the Barmy Army trumpeter sparks up a rendition of Radio Ga Ga, one of Queen’s more bearable songs IMO.
Joining the 50-over Defence League is John Starbuck: “The ODI format is really the only properly viable method of running a world championship, so far as demonstrating cricketing skills is concerned. T20 is too much of a lottery and Test cricket, enjoyable for its own sake, doesn’t really grip because of the interminable timescale. Stokes is right to want to play his part in it.”
34th over: England 253-3 (Stokes 124, Buttler 18). Lister comes back for what I think is his fourth separate spell. He’s not taken a wicket but has perhaps been the pick of the Black Caps’ attack, but neither he nor the man at mid-off can do anything about a Buttler cover drive with the force of a traction engine that zips away for four. A few more singles ensue
33rd over: England 244-3 (Stokes 122, Buttler 12). Boult bowls his eighth over – bowling him through at this early stage is a risk for New Zealand – and is belted down the ground by Stokes for another four. Buttler sees that and raises it, thumping an insufficiently disguised slower ball over long off for SIX
“Is this game reinforcing how good a batter Ben Stokes is (who knew?) or demonstrating the folly of him going to the World Cup rather than getting his knee fixed?” wonders Brian Withington. Stokes himself should be best placed to know that, but if England want to defend their World crown properly – and give the 50-over game the respect it deserves but often doesn’t get – then it’s worth the risk I guess.
32nd over: England 232-3 (Stokes 117, Buttler 5). A slightly hobbling Stokes, who now has his highest ODI score, marks the achievement by playing a cover drive reminiscent of Malan to cream Jamieson away for four. A more forceful pull on the onside brings two more, and a more forceful one still sails between two fielders on the legside boundary for SIX. He rounds off the over by hoicking another four to long-on. His physical discomfort the only concern arising from this joyous knock.
31st over: England 218-3 (Stokes 103, Buttler 5). Boult appeals for a catch behind against, the umpire responds with outstretched arms for a wide, but New Zealand send it upstairs. And Malan did get the nick. He deserved a hundred but it was a smart review. Buttler is off the mark with a single, having come to the crease with the luxury of options over his approach with such a big score on the board already. He can’t resist a short ball at the end of the over and pulls it to the square leg boundary for four, aided by a misfield.
Wicket! Malan c Latham b Boult 96
How’s this for a review. Boult slants one down leg, and he thinks Malan has tickled it to the keeper. The umpire doesn’t, signalling wide instead. New Zealand send it upstairs and, sure enough, snicko shows he’s nicked it. A brilliant innings and partnership ends.
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Hundred for Ben Stokes!
30th over: England 212-2 (Malan 96, Stokes 102). Stokes brings up his fourth ODI hundred, off 76 deliveries, with a pushed single off Phillips as effortless as much of his brilliant innings has been brutal. Not bad for a format he’d retired from. Other than that it’s middle-overs-meandering and strike-swapping.
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29th over: England 206-2 (Malan 93, Stokes 99). Boult is brought back into the attack, perhaps earlier than he’d have wanted, but needs must, and it’s a leaner, meaner over. Stoke toe-ends a single to edge closer to a hundred (and his top ODI score of 102), and Malan adds a single behind square on the off. Stokes ends the over on 99.
28th over: England 202-2 (Malan 91, Stokes 97). Phillips returns at the Pavilion End and induces a poor reverse-sweep attempt from Stokes, which canons off gloves and deflects over Latham for a single. New Zealand’s tightest over for a while but they haven’t looked like taking a wicket, if I may say that.
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27th over: England 200-2 (Malan 90, Stokes 96). Bowling wide on-length outside off to Dawid Malan is a mug’s game and he creams another two when Daryl Mitchell does just that. An over of singles – one hurriedly run and risking a run-out – ensues as England ease to 200.
This is all bringing back memories of these teams’ ODI series of 2015, when all this New Brand Of Cricket malarkey began.
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26th over: England 194-2 (Malan 85, Stokes 95). A rare bit of Poor Cricket All-Round starts the Jamieson over: full toss, mistimed bunt, fumble from the fielder at mid-on, and a single. And Jamieson can do nothing when Stokes greets a back of a length ball outside off with a belligerent straight whack for four. He’s in brilliant touch, but wincing at his innings’ physical exertions too. A couple more well-run singles complete the over.
25th over: England 185-2 (Malan 84, Stokes 88). More chopping and changing, Mitchell replacing Ravindra. He’s starred with the bat in this series, can he with the ball? Not particularly but he at least stops feeding the legside areas through which Stokes has been so prolific, denying him any boundaries this over. A decent start from Mitchell.
24th over: England 181-2 (Malan 83, Stokes 85). Latham keeps chopping and changing his bowlers, bringing back Jamieson for his fifth over. He’s round the wicket at the left-handers and suffers again when Malan creams yet another wonderful drive through mid-on for four. He then decides it’s time he hit a SIX of his own, swinging effortlessly over long-on.
23rd over: England 169-2 (Malan 72, Stokes 85). England absolutely motoring now. Four more for Malan, off Ravindra, then Stokes gives that same section of the crowd behind deep midwicket some catching practice with another SIX, punishing a short delivery. The next is pitched up … and walloped high over long-on for SIX more. This time the bowler changes angle and manages to cramp Stokes up and squeeze a couple of dot balls from another expensive over.
And it’s all happening in the County Championship too – hat-tricks, collapses, run-chases. Why not open another window on your browser?
22nd over: England 152-2 (Malan 67, Stokes 73). Stokes is in bludgeoning mode today, Malan’s all about the timing – this over features another delicious cover drive – and the approach of both is working like a dream at the moment. They look untroubled whether nudging singles or reeling off boundaries, though Lister is bowling with more guile and nous than his more seasoned contemporaries. The runs keep coming, mind.
21st over: England 144-2 (Malan 61, Stokes 71). Ravindra gets to turn his arm over for the first time, and Stokes greets him by hoisting the first SIX of the innings high over deep midwicket into the JM Finn stand, possibly exactly where I was sat during the Oval Test in July. I’d have caught that. A productive/expensive over.
20th over: England 133-2 (Malan 59, Stokes 62). They’ve just flashed up England’s World Cup itinerary, with its nine – count ‘em – different venues, which is hugely tantalising from a travelling fan’s perspective but not so kind to the wallet or the carbon footprint. And everyone should read Barney Ronay’s piece here. In the here and now, Lister comes back on and continues to keep things relatively tight. His battle with Stokes here – the batter trying to charge, the bowler reading and adjusting – is intriguing. Malan then loosens the flimsy-anyway shackles with an easy pull for four to complete the over
19th over: England 125-2 (Malan 54, Stokes 60). A rare false shot from Stokes, slogging and missing at a sharp Phillips leg-break. They only deal in ones and twos in this over, but the series’ first 300+ score looks on here.
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18th over: England 119-2 (Malan 52, Stokes 57). Ferguson continues from the Pavilion End, and singles are worked, a wide is conceded, and then Stokes brings up his 50 with a cheeky ramp/scoop high to the fine-leg boundary for four and adds another four with a forceful belt beyond mid-on. He’s been excellent today, just what the top of the innings needed.
Up in the commentary box, Eoin Morgan is using the words “positive” and “aggression” with relish. He’s a decent pundit, also betraying the steely sternness with which he must have led in the dressing room.
17th over: England 106-2 (Malan 50, Stokes 48). Malan unfurls a nonchalantly fine cover drive for four when Phillips drops a fraction short. An easy single brings up his second consecutive 50 of the series. And that’s drinks.
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16th over: England 98-2 (Malan 44, Stokes 46). Ferguson changes ends and comes on for Lister at the Pavilion End, starting with a rare proper bouncer. It’s a good, varied over, a bit shorter here, a cross-seam cutter there, but he can’t do anything about Stokes swiping him through the legside for four off the fifth ball of the over.
“Did you notice in Stokes figures, that he has 3 ODI hundreds with a best of 102,” asks Ian Palmer. I didn’t, no. “That means he has 3 scores between 100 and 102. On the basis cricketers are usually a suspicious bunch and they don’t like people moving if things are going well, could we ask the team on the balcony to not cheer his hundreds?”
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15th over: England 92-2 (Malan 43, Stokes 41). Glenn Phillips comes on to bowl the first over of spin of the afternoon, a possibly welcome change of pace from a New Zealand perspective after some expensive overs. Some nudged singles mark a slight gear change down – until Stokes goes down on one knee and flays one through deep midwicket for four.
14th over: England 85-2 (Malan 41, Stokes 36). Stokes is strike-hogging at the minute and in the mood, but the parsimonious Lister gives him less to play with. Two dots and a single are followed by a lovely swivel-pull for four by Malan.
13th over: England 79-2 (Malan 36, Stokes 25). A bit of brute force from Stokes draws some cheers from a hitherto fairly quiet crowd, clobbering a short-ish delivery from Ferguson in front of square for four. Another four swiftly follows, but this one is lucky, a leading edge just evading the catcher at backward point. Stokes than hacks to leg again for two before a sumptuous one-handed lofted drive for four. England’s Test captain is on the charge, and against some 90mph bowling.
12th over: England 64-2 (Malan 36, Stokes 20). Stokes charges Lister, but the bowler sees him coming and bangs it in a bit shorter and the batter can only hack away a single square on the legside. Smart from the bowler, and an economical over yields only a single.
11th over: England 63-2 (Malan 36, Stokes 19). The all-lefty affair ends swiftly, as the right-arm Ferguson comes on at the Vauxhall End. A slightly risky single starts the over. With powerplay No 1 done, that batters work some singles until Stokes clips beyond a diving mid-on for four. Ferguson finds a bit of bounce mind, of which there’s now more around than there is swing. That’s a fairly effortless 50-partnership up too.
10th over: England 55-2 (Malan 34, Stokes 13). Ben Lister, in his second ODI, comes on for Jamieson, which means we have two left-armers bowling at two left-handers. Lister starts well, not dropping too short and maintaining his line, though he strays a bit with his final ball that Malan belts to backward point where Phillips parries – that will have smarted a bit – and they run a single. Phillips goes off to get some frozen peas on that.
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9th over: England 53-2 (Malan 33, Stokes 12). Better from Boult, almost prompting Stokes to chop on from one delivery, and generally finding a better line, which possibly prompts a bit of a mind-scramble from Malan when he sets off for a single that’s not on and has to hurry back. He makes it.
“Perhaps when Buttler asks his team to play with more freedom and aggression he could make sure he does it when Root is out of the room?” harrumphs Jonathan McKinley. “Unlike many of his fellow batters, it is not ‘freedom and aggression’ that have made Root the outstanding cricketer that he (still) is. I’d just let Root be Root and watch him deliver the ODI 50s and 100s of which he is still undoubtedly capable.” It’s a funny one isn’t it, because Root has certainly added more freedom and aggression, and unorthodoxy, to his red-ball game – to productive effect – but looks less at home with such aggression in ODIs at the minute.
8th over: England 51-2 (Malan 31, Stokes 11). This outfield is nice and quick if you get your timing right and Malan effortlessly adds four more with an on-drive that pierces the in-field, following it up by punishing a wide ball outside off with a forceful square cut to the boundary to bring up England’s 50. He’s making his World Cup case in this series and no mistake. Another fumble behind the stumps from Latham ensues, this off a challenging away-swinger that Malan doesn’t get close to an edge to.
7th over: England 42-2 (Malan 23, Stokes 11). Boundaries continue to flow freely, Stokes getting a tickle down legside off Boult, which is sufficient to go for four, before a more obviously attacking crack on the offside is cut off at mid-off.
6th over: England 36-2 (Malan 22, Stokes 6). A bit of that requested aggression coming from England now. A well-timed punch through the covers and a belligerent pull to the ropes bring consecutive boundaries for Malan off Jamieson, who began the over with a wide. Stokes is discomforted, though, when trying to turn Jamieson off his pads through the legsides and top-ends one up in the air in front of him but the bowler can’t reach it.
5th over: England 25-2 (Malan 13, Stokes 5). Boult strays into Malan’s pads to give him an easy single before Stokes gets off the mark with a neat clip through midwicket for four – all timing, little force, that. Malan adds the second boundary of the over with a crunching square cut. England’s most productive over so far, and Boult’s worst.
4th over: England 14-2 (Malan 8, Stokes 0). It’s overcast out there at the minute, which is aiding swing, and England are forced to be watchful. The tall right-armer Jamieson, moving it into Stokes, keeps him pinned back and there’s only one from the over.
3rd over: England 13-2 (Malan 7, Stokes 0). “Root needs a score here” is not a sentence we have cause to type much, but we do at the moment, and he’ll have enjoyed the crisp square cover drive for four off Boult that gets him off the mark. But Boult will have enjoyed his comeback more, bowling him when Root drives at a wideish slanting delivery and inside edges it back on to the timber. England, and Root, continue to look wobbly at the top of the order.
BOWLED'IM
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 13, 2023
Trent Boult gets another! Joe Root goes for 4 ❌ pic.twitter.com/qXUoTX4PIi
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Wicket! Root b Boult 4, England 13-2
Boult strikes again, and Root’s lean run continues, bowled off an inside edge.
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2nd over: England 9-1 (Malan 7, Root 0). Jamieson, who struggled in Cardiff, has the new ball from the Pavilion End, and begins by offering Malan a tasty clip off the legs, which he duly dispatches to the boundary. Jamieson tightens things up subsequently, and England have a modest nine from two.
1st over: England 3-1 (Malan 1, Root 0). Boult gives New Zealand the perfect start, seeing off Bairstow with a first-baller. England are away with a bye, clumsily conceded by a Latham fumble behind the stumps after some extravagant away-seam movement. A wide down legside greets Malan’s first ball on strike, followed by a quick single.
Wicket! Bairstow c Conway b Boult 0
Boult strikes first ball! New Zealand’s plan is bowled to and works, Bairstow flicking nonchalantly and high off his pads towards shortish square leg, where Conway takes a fine catch to his left.
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Out come the players …
Injury news – more back spasm woe for Jason Roy, whose position in the team has been hanging by a thread anyway, without this. New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner has a knacked knee, which is why he’s sitting this one out.
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Those teams in full
England: Malan, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Buttler (wk, capt), Moeen, Livingstone, Curran, Woakes, Atkinson, Topley.
New Zealand: Young, Conway, Nicholls, Mitchell, Latham (wk, capt), Phillips, Ravindra, Jamieson, Ferguson, Southee, Bolt.
New Zealand win the toss and bowl
Tom Latham once again calls right and the Black Caps once again opt to chase. The left-arm medium pacer Ben Lister comes in for New Zealand joining the returning Kyle Jamieson in the attack, while England bring back Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes for Harry Brook and David Willey. The Brook-as-opener experiment is parked for today, then, with case not proven yet.
“I’ve encouraged everyone to be even more positive and aggressive,” he chirps, unsurprisingly.
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Some overdue grassroots cricket news:
The ECB has announced a fresh £2m investment in programmes aimed at engaging black and south Asian communities and state-educated children. The funding will be directed to five of the governing body’s partner charities over the next two-and-a-half years, forming part of the ECB’s response to a damning report published earlier this year.
Ebony Rainford-Brent’s African Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE), the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) and the MCC Foundation join long-term partners Chance to Shine and Lord’s Taverners in sharing the new cash injection. PA
Pre-match reading:
Our county cricket guru, Tanya Aldred, has devoted this week’s Spin newsletter to the Championship run-in and what might lie in store. And to read the full version, why not sign up here?
And to catch updates from the latest round of matches, just nip into the county liveblog here:
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Preamble
Morning everyone, and let’s hope the weather is kinder to England’s and New Zealand’s men today than it was to England’s and Sri Lanka’s women yesterday, not that last week’s vicious heatwave was particularly kind to anyone. Nonetheless, cricket was played through it and, in this series, England and New Zealand go into today’s third ODI at the Oval at one thrashing piece, hot on the heels of their two-thrashings-each T20 series. It’s dry and partly cloudy out in That London today, so here’s hoping.
England should have their tails up after responding to a lacklustre performance in Cardiff with an ultimately convincing win on the outskirts of Southampton, even if the top order’s failure to fire is a concern. However Liam Livingstone, in whom I expressed some doubt on Friday’s OBO, has since demonstrated how little I know with two wonderfully explosive innings – two of his best knocks for England – and the sometimes overlooked perennials Reece Topley and David Willey came to the party at the Rose Bowl with the ball.
English spirits have also been lifted by Jofra Archer being back in the area, turning up in the nets yesterday with Andrew Flintoff in tow for a limber-up that has sparked optimism that he might be able to play some sort of role in the World Cup.
Since Sunday New Zealand have named their provisional squad for next month’s shindig in India, including a recovering Kane Williamson and 2019 star Jimmy Neesham but not finding space for the free-hitting Finn Allen or the paceman Adam Milne. They kick off the tournament against England in Ahmedabad of course, so here we go again for dress rehearsal No 3.
Play starts at 12.30pm BST.
