Another collapse sees England crawl to 222 vs New Zealand after Jamie Overton’s 68, Blair Tickner four-for.
Tourists suffer another collapse before lower-order biffing gives them a glimmer.
At Sky Stadium in Wellington, England suffered their third straight batting humiliation against New Zealand before Jamie Overton’s courageous 68 off 62 balls propelled them to 222 all out. Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy, and Zak Foulkes combined for nine wickets, and Overton’s first ODI fifty was the lone bright spot on yet another disappointing England card.
There would be no turnaround for the England team with several eyes on the Ashes after they had already given up the series, 2-0, with one game remaining. Their longest innings of the three, at 40.2 overs, hardly indicated that their batting unit was improving.
Inserted for the third game running, they plunged to 44 for 5 with none of the top four reaching double-figures. A 53-run stand between Jos Buttler and Sam Curran helped save some face before Overton and Brydon Carse combined for 58 from 50 balls down the order. Overton struck 10 fours and two sixes in his highest List A score, but the target for New Zealand still looked light.
Foulkes struck with his fourth ball after going 4 for 41 on his debut at Mount Maunganui. Even though it took DRS to spot the edge, Jamie Smith had already come dangerously close to being bowled by a lavish in-ducker as he attempted to attack from the off and then feathered behind in an attempt to cut.
In the next over, Ben Duckett hit Duffy over the boundary boards for a sixth, but Foulkes was at it once more in his subsequent over, pinning Joe Root with an inswinger that may have stayed a little low. England were 31 for 4 during the powerplay as Duckett toe-ended a swipe off Duffy to mid-on and Brook stole a Duffy outswinger.
With Buttler and Curran, England ultimately decided to cut back. Buttler managed to reach 11 from 31 balls after picking off a couple of early boundaries before hitting Nathan Smith, the first-change bowler, through long-off.
Buttler blasted four more runs down the ground with his first ball in Smith’s third over before scooping another through fine leg. Before Curran’s pull for four off Smith raised the fifty stand from 62 balls, he began the following over from Tickner by hitting back-to-back boundaries once more.
Tickner made a breakthrough, putting the ball on Curran’s stumps with a mix of pad and inside edge. Buttler was then delivered more forcefully by the same bowler, who nipped a full delivery inside an expansive drive to topple off stump.
After pulling a four to start the game, Overton scored his third goal with a flat six that broke through the low wall surrounding the boundary. Carse then joined the counterattack, slog-sweeping Mitchell Santner for consecutive sixes before giving Smith the same treatment by hooking fine and then into the crowd over deep square leg to sprint into the 30s.
Tickner won his second straight four-for as Carse only added one more run, top-edging a swipe high into the covers, while Jofra Archer managed a couple of boundaries before holing out to mid-on. However, Overton was moving quickly, adding two fours from Duffy and two thumps from Tickner to reach a half-century at a run per ball.