New Zealand are lamenting an “amateurish” end to their tour of England after losing the one-off Twenty20 International in Manchester by 56 runs.
Three days after suffering defeat in the deciding match of the one-day international series, the Black Caps absorbed further disappointment when a batting collapse scuppered their hopes at Old Trafford.
England reached an imposing 191-7 after winning the toss but had their hands full as the tourists raced to 89-2 off eight overs.
However, three quick wickets stilted the chase before a calamitous tail-order collapse resulted in the last five wickets falling for four runs in the space of 11 balls.
New Zealand were dismissed for 135 off 16.2 overs, ending a six-week visit in which they drew the Test series 1-1 and lost the ODI series 3-2.
Captain Brendon McCullum, who thrashed 35 off 15 balls at start of the chase, says many of his teammates will cringe at the nature of their dismissals.
“Some of our batting was pretty amateurish. We got ourselves in a good position and we should have been able to chase down the total,” he said.
“Our application when we needed it wasn’t quite right.”
Coach Mike Hesson was just as critical of his players after they had forged a strong position.
“You get to needing 100 runs off 12 overs with eight wickets in the tank, you’re going along quite nicely. But we weren’t able to front up.
“There were some amateur shots (which) is probably the nicest way to put it. It was a very poor finish.”
Joe Root top-scored for England with 68 off 46 balls, while four teammates made quickfire contributions in the 20s.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, making his T20 debut, was the pick of the Black Caps bowlers with 2-28 while new-ball partner Mitchell McClenaghan also bagged two scalps.
McCullum bludgeoned four sixes in his lightning knock before Kane Williamson maintained his prolific form with 57 off 37 balls.
Williamson’s run-out in the 15th over ended any realistic hope of victory as England surged home on the back of sharp bowling from seamers Mark Wood (3-26) and Ben Stokes (2-24).
England captain Eoin Morgan says his team’s limited overs progress has been meteoric since exiting in the group stages of the World Cup in March.
“This felt a million miles away after the World Cup,” he said.
“Now we have won this game and the ODI series, it reinforces to the guys that, it might not always come off, but we can beat the best in the world in any game of cricket.”
