Cricket
McCullum stars in NZ's victory
2013-02-12 11:19
Hamilton - New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum
inspired his team to a crushing 55-run win over England in the second
Twenty20 international in Hamilton on Tuesday, levelling the series 1-1.
Determined
to make amends after being humbled in the opening fixture, New Zealand
made 192 for six after being sent into bat then bowled out the tourists
for 137.
McCullum led from the front with a captain's knock of 74,
including five sixes and six fours, as the Black Caps made the most of
the short Seddon Park boundaries to punish the England attack.
The
hosts also produced a much improved display in the field to have
England reeling at 47 for five at one point before a feisty 54 from Jos
Buttler and a 22-run cameo by James Tredwell helped to make the
scoreline respectable.
"Credit to New Zealand, they played
fantastically and took the game away from us with the bat," England
captain Stuart Broad said.
"We didn't execute our skills 100
percent right. At the half-way point we thought we were in with a chance
but obviously losing early wickets like we did meant we were always
chasing the game."
New Zealand openers Martin Guptill (47) and
Hamish Rutherford (40) provided a solid platform for McCullum to blast
away late in the innings in a display that included three sixes off a
Stuart Broad over.
Between them the three scored 10 sixes as New Zealand reached its fourth highest T20 total.
New
Zealand's momentum appeared to have slowed significantly when Ross
Taylor (4), Colin Munro (7) and Grant Elliott (4) were dismissed
cheaply, until McCullum unleashed a big-hitting onslaught against Broad.
He
brought up his half century in style, sending Broad's delivery over the
boundary for six, then followed up with another in the next ball.
He was at it again two balls later, thumping the ball over extra cover to take his third six of the over.
He fell in the penultimate ball of the innings, although James Franklin still managed a four off the final delivery.
Jade Dernbach was the pick of the England bowlers, taking three wickets for 38 runs.
But
England made a disastrous start to their innings when Mitchell
McClenaghan clean bowled Alex Hales for five in the second over then
dismissed Luke Wright, one of the heroes of the Auckland win, for a
golden duck with his next ball.
Jonny Bairstow followed three
overs later, tentatively dabbing an Ian Butler short ball to McClenaghan
to leave the tourists at 24 for three.
Michael Lumb tried to lift
the over rate but was bowled for 17 after charging down the wicket at a
Nathan McCullum delivery, with dangerman Eoin Morgan falling to Butler
in the next over for 13.
Trent Boult turned the screws by running
out Samit Patel in spectacular fashion, firing the ball directly into
the stumps from the mid-off boundary.
A forgettable night for
Broad, who leaked 53 runs from four overs with the ball, ended when he
was caught for one after facing just three deliveries.
Buttler and
Tredwell showed glimpses of what England's batting line-up is capable
of late in the innings but by then too many wickets had fallen and any
chance of victory had long since evaporated.
The final match of the series will be played in Wellington on Friday.