A devastating spell by spin twins Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, and a freakish run out yesterday saw England pull off a dramatic four-run victory in the third one-day international (ODI) against New Zealand in Wellington.
The game boiled down to New Zealand skipper and centurymaker Kane Williamson needing a six off the final ball as they chased a 235 target.
However, he was unable to deliver, leaving New Zealand on 230 for eight as England went 2-1 up in the five-match series.
Photo: Reuters
New Zealand appeared to have the game in their hands at 80 for one in the 18th over, before Ali and Rashid turned the match with five wickets for 23 runs in a 41-ball burst.
Ali finished with three for 36 and Rashid took two for 34.
They were assisted by a stunning catch from Ben Stokes diving to his left to remove Colin Munro (49) to ignite the New Zealand slump from a comfortable 80 for one to 103 for six.
Williamson, who had struggled for runs in recent innings and missed the second ODI, which England won, because of a hamstring strain, returned to the arena with an imperious performance for his 11th ODI century.
He faced 143 deliveries and was in the middle for most of the New Zealand innings after the early dismissal of Martin Guptill for three.
Williamson shared a 68-run stand with Munro, and once Ali and Rashid had destroyed the rest of the recognised New Zealand batting he engineered a revival with Mitchell Santner.
Santner was given the benefit of the doubt on two when Jason Roy took a catch at ground level and there was no clear evidence the ball had not touched the grass.
From there he was more circumspect to reach 41 before being run out when a Chris Woakes attempt to stop a Williamson drive deflected off the bowler’s fingertips and on to the stumps, with Santner caught out of his crease.
Woakes, defending 15 runs in the final over, conceded two twos and a six to Williamson and then fired in two dot balls to prevent a New Zealand victory.
England, having been sent into bat first, struggled to 234 in an innings built around a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket by Eoin Morgan and Stokes.
Although the wicket offered variable bounce it held no serious demons and the top nine England batsmen all reached double figures.
Their problem was no one could settle in long-term and New Zealand part-time medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme was allowed to bowl 10 overs in which he took one for 24.
Ish Sodhi was more expensive with his leg breaks, but still claimed three wickets for 53, while there were three late run outs as England pushed for runs at the end of their innings.
Morgan top scored for the tourists with 48 off 71 while Stokes, the England hero when they won the second ODI three days ago, contributed 39 off 73.
The fourth match in the series is in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Wednesday.
S AFRICA V AUSTRALIA
Reuters, DURBAN, South Africa
Opener Cameron Bancroft yesterday struck a fluent half-century as Australia tightened their grip on the first Test against South Africa, helping his side to 112 for three at lunch on the third day at Kingsmead in South Africa.
The tourists have extended their second innings lead to a commanding 301 and in-form captain Steve Smith (16) will resume after the interval with Shaun Marsh (4).
The lead already looks a commanding one on a wicket likely to deteriorate in the final two days, providing Australia’s vaunted seam attack with prodigious reverse swing and spinner Nathan Lyon plenty of rough to trouble the batsmen.
South Africa are likely to be disappointed with their bowling effort as they erred in line and length, but left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj was again the pick of their attack with figures of 2-49, including the wicket of Bancroft (53) on the stroke of lunch.
Australia began their second innings at the start of the third day as Bancroft and David Warner (28) put on 56 for the first wicket before latter miscued a pull off Kagiso Rabada (1-11) to substitute fielder Wiaan Mulder at mid-on.
Usman Khawaja (6) never looked settled at the crease and he was caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock having gloved a ball from Maharaj.
Bancroft continued to play positively and reached his second Test half-century off 76 balls with 10 fours, but then walked past a Maharaj delivery and was stumped five balls before the interval.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat, posting 351 in their opening innings, before skittling South Africa for 162 on day two.
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS