AUCKLAND, Nov 10: England beat New Zealand in a thrilling Super Over finish to their rain-reduced Twenty20 International on Sunday, clinching a 3-2 win in the five-match series.
The teams were tied when England replied with 146-7 to New Zealand�s 146-5 in a match shortened by heavy rain to 11 overs per side.
Jonny Bairstow and captain Eoin Morgan took 17 runs from England�s Super Over, bowled by New Zealand captain Tim Southee, before Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert and Colin de Grandhomme managed only eight from New Zealand�s single over.
The match was reminiscent of the World Cup final between the teams in June when England won on a count back of boundaries after being tied at the end of 50 overs and again after the one-over eliminator.
This time England�s performance in the tiebreaker was decisive.
Bairstow and Morgan both hit sixes to set New Zealand a chase for 18 runs, a total which was challenging even on the postage stamp boundaries of Eden Park.
New Zealand made the unusual decision to nominate wicketkeeper Tim Seifert to take the first ball of its Super Over, bowled by Chris Jordan. Seifert took two, left a wide, hit four and had a dot ball before falling to a brilliant catch by Morgan.
With New Zealand needing 10 runs from the last two balls Guptill could only manage a single from the first ball he faced and the match was over.
scorecard
New Zealand: M Guptill c Banton b Rashid 50, C Munro c Vince b S Curran 46, C de Grandhomme c Vince b Mahmood 6, T Seifert b T Curran 39, J Neesham not out 1, R Taylor run out (S Curran/Billings) 3. Extras: (LB-1) 1. Total: (For 5 wickets, 11 overs) 146. Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-93, 3-120, 4-143, 5-146. Bowling: S Curran 2-0-33-1, T Curran 2-0-30-1, Jordan 2-0-28-0, Rashid 3-0-34-1, Mahmood 2-0-20-1.
England: T Banton lbw Boult 7, J Bairstow c Seifert b Neesham 47, J Vince c Kuggeleijn b Southee 1, E Morgan c Kuggeleijn b Boult 17, S Curran st Seifert b Santner 24, S Billings not out 11, L Gregory c Southee b Santner 6, T Curran c de Grandhomme b Neesham 12, C Jordan not out 12. Extras: (LB-2, W-7) 9. Total: (For 7 wickets, 11 overs) 146. Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-9, 3-39, 4-100, 5-101, 6-107, 7-134. Bowling: Boult 3-0-35-2, Southee 2-0-22-1, Santner 2-0-20-2, Kuggeleijn 1-0-20-0, Sodhi 1-0-22-0, Neesham 2-0-25-2.
Super Over
England: J Bairstow not out 8, E Morgan not out 9. Total: (For no loss) 17. Bowling: Southee 1-0-17-0.
New Zealand: T Seifert c Morgan b Jordan 6, M Guptill not out 1, C de Grandhomme not out 0. Extras: (W-1) 1. Total: (For 1 wicket) 8. Fall of wicket: 1-7. Bowling: Jordan 1-0-8-1. � AFP
