6th T20I New Zealand v England @ Seddon Park 5pm AEDT

[Bomberboyokay]

Either team could still play Australia in the final on Wednesday.

What just happened? That was the overriding sentiment, you imagine, in the New Zealand dressing room after Friday night's pongo-fest. At the halfway stage of the game at Eden Park, Martin Guptill's hundred looked to have put the hosts on the way to sealing their spot in the tri-series final; when Aaron Finch hit the 32nd and final six an hour and a half later to complete Australia's extraordinary chase, New Zealand were out on their feet and left to groggily contemplate a group decider in two days' time.

Jaws, and morale, must be picked off the floor if they are to ensure England don't take advantage in Hamilton. Somehow, despite having lost all three games in the series so far, Eoin Morgan's team can still claim the trophy. Their cause will be boosted by the return of Morgan, who has recovered from a groin strain, though they will resist the temptation to throw Ben Stokes straight into the fray - he has trained with his team-mates after arriving in New Zealand but is likely to be saved for the one-dayers.

England have to do more than just beat New Zealand to reach the final - given their inferior net run rate, they must do so by a clear margin. Should they bat first and score 180, for example, they would need to keep New Zealand to 160 or below; if New Zealand were to make the same score, England's requirement would be to chase it down in 18 overs or fewer.

There has been some grumbling about the state of T20 cricket after the Auckland run-glut but, while the scores were always likely to be bigger on New Zealand's grounds, that match was an outlier in every sense. With the exception of Dawid Malan, England's batting has misfired but they remain in with a shot of salvaging something from this experimental tri-series and won't mind another high-scoring shootout. The same goes, most likely, for those hoping to grab another catch or two in the crowd.

[...]

New Zealand will hope to have Mitchell Santner available, having missed the Eden Park carnage with a knee issue. Ben Wheeler was taken out of the attack for bowling two high full-tosses on Friday and, after conceding 64 runs from 3.1 overs, could well be taken out of the firing line in Hamilton.

New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Mark Chapman, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Tim Seifert (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner/Anaru Kitchen, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Trent Boult

Morgan has declared himself fit to return after missing the last two games, with James Vince likely to make way. The recurrence of Liam Plunkett's hamstring problem means a change to the attack, Tom Curran the obvious replacement.

England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Sam Billings, 7 David Willey, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Tom Curran, 11 Mark Wood

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/10883/preview/1072321/

 

[Marklar_33]

England need to win by at least 18 runs or chase a target in 17 1/2 overs...ish

 

[imperial_oz]

Poms batting first but no Wheeler to help them out

 

[imperial_oz]

Darn. My link just died

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Strange looking ground. Too built up and crowded for a park-type experience but not built up enough to enjoy as a stadium experience. New Zealand's WACA?

 

[imperial_oz]

Poms falling apart here. Won't make the final

 

[Bomberboyokay]

* off mining.

 

[tigs2010]

If Santner had played Friday we would have won inside 12 overs.

 

[imperial_oz]

Santner's trying to emulate Wheeler

 

[Kram]

If Santner had played Friday we would have won inside 12 overs.

Glorified grade cricketer.

 

[imperial_oz]

Caught on a no ball. Now a free hit

 

[Moonwatcher]

Who would Aus want to play? I am thinking Eng rather than giving NZ home ground advantage.

 

[imperial_oz]

Glorified grade cricketer.

Apparently would have won them the game the other night.

 

[Moonwatcher]

Caught on a no ball. Now a free hit

He probably wouldn't have slogged at the ball if it wasn't above waist height.

 

[tigs2010]

Glorified grade cricketer.

Number 1 bowler in the world

 

[Marklar_33]

Glorified grade cricketer.

The actual number one ranked T20I bowler right now. Had a bad over...

 

[tigs2010]

Horrendous camera work

 

[footyfan1978]

Not seeing this, but is this game played on a ground bigger than my backyard cricket games ? Last game was clearly not.

 

[imperial_oz]

Not seeing this, but is this game played on a ground bigger than my backyard cricket games ? Last game was clearly not.

Another small ground. 70 meters is a comfortable six

 

[footyfan1978]

Another small ground. 70 meters is a comfortable six

s**t. So still small. Reckon there was 70 metres to our back fence from where batting stance was.

 

[imperial_oz]

s**t. So still small. Reckon there was 70 metres to our back fence from where batting stance was.

One six was caught by a crowd member, travelled 71 meters according to the TV and cleared the boundary by 5 meters. Not sure any ground in Oz is that small unless you're talking the local park

 

[footyfan1978]

One six was caught by a crowd member, travelled 71 meters according to the TV and cleared the boundary by 5 meters. Not sure any ground in Oz is that small unless you're talking the local park

Adelaide Oval side boundaries seemed small and think North Sydney oval pretty small too. But the old boundaries at Adelaide Oval without ropes you could run 5 sometimes.

 

[imperial_oz]

Adelaide Oval side boundaries seemed small and think North Sydney oval pretty small too. But the old boundaries at Adelaide Oval without ropes you could run 5 sometimes.

True on both those grounds but I think 70 meters would see you caught inside the boundary...or on the boundary at worst

 

[Moonwatcher]

Well that escalated quickly.

 

[KBLT]

Is keeping harder in New Zealand or something?