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Tuesday 12 February 2008

England 2 - 2 Black Caps (a.k.a: I'm Gonna Get Stick At Work Tomorrow)

England's cricketers might have won the Twenty-Twenty Series 2 - 0 ... however ....

New Zealand embarrass England. England put in a dreadful performance as New Zealand easily claim a 10-wicket win for a 2-0 series lead.

England gave an even poorer performance than they had managed in the first one-day international as New Zealand easily claimed a 2-0 series lead. The tourists collapsed horribly from 90-2 to be bowled out for 158 in a match reduced to 36 overs per side.

But for Alastair Cook's 53 they would barely have had any total to defend. New Zealand showed just how good the wicket was when needing just 18.1 overs to chase down an adjusted target of 165, and they won by 10 wickets. Jesse Ryder smashed 79 off 62 balls in only his second one-day international, with Brendon McCullum trumping that, taking just 47 balls over his 80.

The gulf in class in 50-over cricket between New Zealand - rated third in the world - and England (seventh) had been cruelly exposed.
It was the fourth 10-wicket defeat England had endured in ODIs - and they deserved nothing more, having dropped three catches.