New Zealand hit back at Edgbaston to inflict a heavy 74-run defeat on England in the third T20 and keep alive the four-match series ahead of Tuesday’s finale at Trent Bridge.
Jos Buttler’s world champions could have clinched the series with victory in Birmingham following fine wins in Durham and Manchester, but the Black Caps were able to post an imposing 202 for five after deciding to bat first.
Finn Allen smashed three consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid on his way to 83 and Glenn Phillips contributed a rapid 69 before Ish Sodhi starred with the ball, finishing with three for 33.
Sodhi claimed the key scalps of Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook cheaply and when Mitchell Santner ended Buttler’s blistering innings of 40 off 21 balls, the hosts’ race was run despite the best efforts of Moeen Ali, who was England’s second top scorer with 26 in a below-par batting display.
England were eventually dismissed for 128 to disappoint a typically boisterous sun-soaked Edgbaston crowd and Buttler’s men now head to Nottingham with a narrow 2-1 lead aiming to secure a first T20 series success since they were crowned world champions last November.
After New Zealand decided to bat first, Allen set out his stall with two classy drives for four from Luke Wood’s first over.
The breakthrough arrived soon after though, when Allen pushed for three and opening partner Devon Conway was run-out by Buttler for nine after Moeen’s strong throw from the deep.
Black Caps number three Tim Seifert struggled and was stumped by Buttler from a turning Liam Livingstone delivery for 19, but Allen remained unflustered.
Rashid and Livingstone were hit for maximums to help Allen bring up his fifty from 35 balls.
Rashid had managed to tie up an end and only went for 23 from his first three overs, but Allen sent him out of the attack with a bang after three successive sixes in the 15th over.
The first maximum was hit high over deep extra cover and Allen showed his range with another through cow corner before a stand and deliver shot down the ground moved him up to 77.
A second T20 century appeared in sight but Allen’s fine innings ended when he lost his off stump to Wood’s inswinging yorker to walk off for an excellent 83 off 53 balls.
Phillips had provided able support to Allen in a crucial 88-run partnership and upped the ante following the opener’s departure with Livingstone’s last over smashed for 22 to give the all-rounder expensive figures of one for 55.
Livingstone was pulled for back-to-back maximums by Phillips before the last ball of the 18th over was driven for another six, but Atkinson concluded the fun of the tourists’ number four.
The Surrey quick produced an excellent 77mph slower ball to bowl Phillips for 69 before he accounted for Daryl Mitchell caught behind to end with respectable figures of two for 31.
New Zealand still managed 202 for five, which left England needing their third highest T20 chase but they made a horrendous start.
Kyle Jamieson sent Will Jacks back for 11 and Dawid Malan produced a painful innings at three, scoring two runs before he hit Tim Southee to Conway at deep cover.
Malan’s dismissal after a scratchy 11-ball knock brought the in-form Brook to the crease but while his innings was eventful, it was also short-lived.
Brook, still reeling from being left out of England’s preliminary World Cup squad, got off the mark with a four but was dismissed in Sodhi’s second over.
He survived being given out lbw after a review showed he got glove on the delivery but Sodhi’s next ball was hit straight up in the air and Mitchell took the catch.
Sodhi had already dismissed Bairstow for 12 and England’s hopes of victory were pinned on captain Buttler.
Buttler, after he survived a tight lbw call, got off the mark with a six down the ground against Sodhi and hit another maximum off Santner after replays showed Allen grounded his foot over the boundary rope having initially caught the shot before attempting to throw it back to team-mate Mitchell.
Santner had the last laugh though when Buttler pulled him straight up in the air and the Black Caps spinner took the caught and bowled chance to end the England skipper’s counter-attack.
Moeen remained and hoicked Matt Henry over deep midwicket for six to bring up England’s hundred but he was one of two scalps in Jamieson’s third over as the hosts were convincingly beaten.
'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.
The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.
Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation.
"We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.
"We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.
"They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.
"Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.
"There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.
"We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."
South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup.
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
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