Malan, Moeen headline England’s series-clinching win
After Dawid Malan’s 114-ball 127 had set England up towards a competitive score, Moeen Ali (4-50) led a strong bowling performance from the hosts as they recorded a comfortable 100-run win against New Zealand in the final game of the four-match ODI series. By virtue of this result, England sealed the series 3-1 with a remarkable turnaround, having been 0-1 down in the series initially. The target of 312 was always going to be difficult on a slowing Lord’s surface and New Zealand needed a strong start in the first PowerPlay to be in the hunt. Unfortunately, Devon Conway had another failure, falling to a clumsy run out and Will Young failed to convert yet another start in the series. England’s bowlers were disciplined and stuck to the basics by bowling nagging lines and lengths. Henry NIcholls was the only top order batter to get some rhythm into his innings but the pressure mounted from the other end with his partners unable to get the scoreboard ticking. Once the ball got older, Moeen along with Liam Livingstone put the squeeze on the scoring rate. The former was eventually rewarded with the big scalps of New Zealand skipper Tom Latham and Nicholls. Glenn Phillips fell soon and the chase went downward from there. At no point did New Zealand seem like they had any control in the chase and as the wickets kept falling, the result was a foregone conclusion long before the game officially ended. Rachin Ravindra, who earlier took a four-fer with the ball, threw his bat around for his maiden fifty but that only served to reduce the margin of defeat. Earlier in the day, Malan’s century shone bright amidst an otherwise inconsistent batting performance from England. The southpaw opener seemed the most comfortable batter from the hosts line-up on a two-paced surface and his knock held the innings together even as his partners failed to kick on with their starts. Joe Root and Jos Buttler supported Malan in valuable partnerships but neither were at their fluent best. Root, in particular, looked unusually edgy in the middle and his wicket came at a time when he was just starting to find his tempo. Buttler also fell at a critical juncture when England were set to hit top gear. New Zealand were dented very early in the innings with a spate of injuries in the opening hour and Tim Southee was the biggest of the casualties. The veteran pacer didn’t return to bowl after the initial four-over burst while Daryl Mitchell and Ben Lister also got injured later on. The left-arm seamer also was unable to finish his full quota as the visitors grappled with their support bowlers to get through the innings. Latham used his resources well and a slowing surface allowed him to bowl more of Mitchell who scalped a couple of wickets as well. England were never able to get that final flurry to the innings as they kept losing wickets and even the set batters like Liam Livingstone were unable to force the pace. To their credit, New Zealand’s bowlers stuck to their guns despite limited resources and Ravindra’s four-fer was the most crucial spell of them all. After having suffered a beating in the previous game, the youngster showed admirable resolve in his spell and used the conditions to good effect. Once Malan fell, England lost the plot and if not for the David Willey-Brydon Carse cameos, would have finished under the 300-run mark. As it turned out, the score proved to be more than enough. Brief scores: (Cricbuzz)
England 311/9 in 50 overs (Dawid Malan 127; Rachin Ravindra 4-60) beat New Zealand 211 in 38.2 overs (Rachin Ravindra 61, Henry Nicholls 41; Moeen Ali 4-50) by 100 runs
