England won the fifth T20I in a thrilling super-over by nine runs against New Zealand at the Eden Park here on Sunday. England also clinched the five-match T20I series by 3-2.
In the super-over, the visitors came to bat first and posted a target of 18 runs for Kiwis. Skipper Eoin Morgan scored nine off three balls while Jonny Bairstow hammered eight off three deliveries.
On the other hand, the hosts were only able to score eight runs with a loss of one wicket in their super-over bowled by Chris Jordan. Tim Seifert played a knock of six runs in four balls while Martin Guptill scored one run.
Earlier, England won the toss and decided to bowl. In a rain-affected match, both the teams were allotted eleven overs of play.
Batting first, New Zealand posted a total of 146/5 in their 11 overs. Kiwis got the steady start as their openers Guptill and Colin Munro scored runs at a fast pace and built a partnership of 83-run in 31 balls.
Adil Rashid provided the much-awaited breakthrough for his side as he scalped Guptill (50) in the sixth over.
Colin de Grandhomme failed to leave his mark on the crease and was sent back to the pavilion after scoring six runs in the seventh over.
Munro who played a knock of 46 runs off 21 balls was dismissed by Sam Curran in the 10th over, reducing kiwis to 120/3 in 9.1 overs.
Jimmy Neesham joined Seifert in the middle and built a brief partnership of 23-run. Seifert amassed 39 runs off 16 balls to get past the team's total to 140.
For England, Curran, Rashid, and Saqib Mahmood scalped one wicket each.
Chasing 147 runs, England were only able to score 146/7 in their eleven overs. After which the match tied and super-over was played.
The English team had a poor start as they lost two early wickets Tom Banton (7) and James Vince (1) reducing the visitors to 9/2 in 1.1 overs.
Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow stitched a 30-run partnership for the third wicket before the former was picked by Trent boult in the third over.
Sam Curran joined Bairstow in the middle and helped the side to get past the 100-run mark. Both built a partnership of 61 runs for the fourth wicket.
Bairstow played a knock of 47 runs in 18 balls before becoming the victim of Jimmy Neesham in the seventh over.
Sam (24) was also sent back to the pavilion by Mitchell Santner on the next ball.
Lewis Gregory (6) and Tom Curran (12) failed to leave their mark on the scoreboard and were scalped by Santner and Neesham, respectively.
Sam Billings and Chris Jordan remained unbeaten on 11 and 12 runs, respectively.
For New Zealand, Boult, Santner, and Neesham scalped two wickets each.
The final of the ICC Men's World Cup between New Zealand and England at the Lord's Cricket Ground on July 14 could not separate the two sides despite the 50-over match and subsequent super over as both ended in a tie. England were finally declared the champions on the basis of boundary countback rule.
Both the teams will now face each other in the first Test of the two-match series from November 21.
( With inputs from ANI )
