England’s efforts to gain form ahead of their T20 series
with New Zealand this February have suffered a minor blow after falling to
defeat on the last ball of the game against an NZ XI on Wednesday.
Although England set their counterparts a tricky 170 to win
after 20 overs, Tom Latham steered New Zealand XI towards the line with a
resplendent 64, surviving four partnerships before Matt Henry hit the winnings
runs on the final delivery.
A defeat is the worst preparation for England’s tour of New
Zealand, which gets properly underway in the three-match T20 series this
weekend, but one positive note can be taken from the defeat.
For Jos Butler recorded his second-successive half-century
to put England in complete control in Whangarei, the 22-year-old smashing 52
form 36 balls from sixth man.
Butler’s performance – which supported the England innings
after Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow earlier fell for four and two respectively
– kept England in the tie and his 87-run partnership with Eoin Morgan (who also
totalled 51) was a real positive on the day.
What England lacked was a strong bowling attack capable of
taking down Latham after Samit Patel took Hamish Rutherford 58 runs in. Despite
Stuart Broad taking a hat-trick the day before, the captain’s team-mates failed
to live up to his level and Broad’s 3-24 on Wednesday proved too late to stop
New Zealand.
