England can only hope there are fewer red faces when they get their hands on a red ball, even if the final action of their white-ball year was not as humiliating as had long seemed inevitable. New Zealand stumbled as they approached the end of what appeared to be another procession, losing three wickets for eight runs in 17 balls to shoehorn some drama into the dross, only for Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner to see the side home with two wickets to spare.
On a ground known as the Cake Tin, the tourists were again half-baked, with their key batters not so much laying a foundation as undermining one. The team limped to an underwhelming total and New Zealand, for all that they faltered, a straightforward target.
