New Zealand experimented quite a bit in their second and final warm-up match at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday before taking on India in their ICC World T20 opener
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson en route his 39-ball 63 vs England at Wankhede on Saturday
New Zealand experimented quite a bit in their second and final warm-up match at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday before taking on India in their ICC World T20 opener.
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson en route his 39-ball 63 vs England at Wankhede on Saturday. Pic/Atul Kamble
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Grant Elliot was pushed to No 8 position from No 5 in the first match against Sri Lanka while Henry Nicholls and Luke Ronchi were promoted to No 3 and 4 respectively.
While the Kiwis convincingly beat the Sri Lankans in the first warm-up match, they struggled to beat England on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium.
NZ spinner Mitchell Santner dismissed suggestions that the defeat had raised any fresh concerns for NZ before their World T20 opener on Thursday.
"There are certain aspects we want to work on. "There were a lot of good things that came out of this game. There was a spin on this wicket. We are very happy with our performance and preparations," said Santner after the six-wicket defeat.
Martin Guptill once again provided a quick start, hitting consecutive boundaries off the first two balls in the first over by Chris Jordan, before perishing for 16.
Kane Williamson played some beautiful strokes in his 51-ball 63, but the skipper did not get enough support from the other batters as New Zealand scored 169 for eight in 20 overs.
England got off to a fine start, taking 53 runs in the Powerplay overs. Opener Alex Hales (44) smashed Munro for 16 runs in the 11th over as England were in cruise control.
However, New Zealand bowlers, especially spinners Santner and Nathan McCullum were successful in holding back the England batters as they conceded only 23 runs between overs 12 and 16. The NZ pacers failed to keep the pressure on England in the death overs as Eoin Morgan & Co romped to victory with four balls to spare.
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