Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature 12th over: New Zealand 86-2 (Williamson 34, Phillips 30) Mark Wood returns, off that long drive from the Stanley Street End. A clip from Phillips, who smartly runs back for two. So Wood sends a fake that Phillips avoids. That might be the length, because when Wood goes again, Phillips drives him for a six! What shot is this? North of 90 mph coming in, and about as fast coming out, through a simple swing of the bat that sinks it into the crowd for long. Only four runs from the other five balls though. 94 runs required in 48 overs. Glenn Phillips hits one on the boundary. Photo: Albert Perez/Getty Images Updated at 10:43 GMT 11th over: New Zealand 76-2 (Williamson 34, Phillips 21) There’s a token one for you. Livingstone bowls a fat, dripping full toss, and Williamson flicks it through mid-off for two. I just didn’t have the foot down as required tonight, New Zealand. Phillips takes another and drives it down the ground for one. He has more luck than his random shots: an outside edge that beats the keeper and a short third for four, then a topside sweep that gets him two. Ten from over is better, but luck can claim most of them. 10th over: New Zealand 66-2 (Williamson 29, Phillips 16) Rashid’s routine continues, stifling the score by landing at a good length, and finally the pressure tells. Phillips gallops in, has a swing, slices it to cover… and Moeen drops the plate. Another simple one down at the Gabba. There’s a low ring of lights here, below ceiling level, and they can be angled to get into the players’ eyes. We’ve seen some just fall from good players. However, just four from the over, and New Zealand have been hit in a hole. Williamson 29 off 29, and need almost 12 an over, 114 off 60 balls. 9th over: New Zealand 62-2 (Williamson 27, Phillips 14) Set and forget Liam Livingstone: he just keeps bowling fast and in length and Williamson and Phillips keep getting on the front foot for a run or two outward side. Until the last ball, that is, when Williamson takes a step in and throws his hands through the ball. Great fielding, hitting the deep extra cover sweeper on the square side for four. Nine from the over, still below the required percentage. 118 to 66 are needed. 8th over: New Zealand 53-2 (Williamson 20, Phillips 12) Another good over of spin, Adil Rashid on the money and the Kiwis work just one run. They have to move. 127 runs needed from 12 overs, or 72 balls. 7th over: New Zealand 47-2 (Williamson 17, Phillips 9) Stokes is back on the field after a check. Livingston twirls his various kinds of licorice, looks like leg-breaks on right-handers tonight. Quick and slippery and tight on the stumps, and mostly a bit short, taking a lot of cut shots. Nobody gets into the middle of one until Phillips off the last ball of the over, behind point for four, but that’s after Buttler misses a catch off Phillips that hits the keeper on his body. 6th over: New Zealand 40-2 (Williamson 15, Phillips 4) Such is Williamson’s ability. Mark Wood bowls, very quick, full and straight and Williamson cuts it off his toes, square enough to hit deep fine leg on the fence. Phillips is much less convincing, getting on the other side of that good football via an inside edge. Radar tracks Mark Wood at 155 kilometers per hour. Readings have been slightly on the generous side in this tournament, we’ve had half a dozen bowlers over 150 supposedly, which stretches credulity. But he bowls fast by any measure. 5th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Williamson 8) Again the wicket falls off the last ball of an over, and he concedes just two runs. It’s almost out of it already, New Zealand. Wickets may happen, but it has been an awful start in terms of run-rate.
WIRELESS! Allen c Stokes b Curran 16 (11 balls), New Zealand 28-2
That’s the big one. Allen is the player who can carve out a huge chunk of the chase in quick time, and he’s gone for relatively few. Swings across the line to Curran, set up for Stokes who comes in from deep mid off, although Stokes looks like he may have hurt his index finger taking the catch. He leaves the court and is replaced by Chris Jordan. Ben Stokes takes the catch but injures his finger in the process. Photo: Tertius Pickard/AP Updated at 10.23 GMT 4th over: New Zealand 26-1 (Allen 15, Williamson 7) Well, I was wondering where the Finn Allen was who tore Australia apart to start the tournament. We saw him here, with a huge shot over midwicket that eludes Harry Brook for a six. That’s the power, then Williamson has the smart touch, waiting for a short ball and pulling it nicely behind square for four. A dozen from Woakes. 3rd over: New Zealand 14-1 (Allen 8, Williamson 2) More spin in the Powerplay, with Adil Rashid in early. This works, too: Allen’s back-swing for three is the only high-performance shot in the over, with a six over all. 2nd over: New Zealand 8-1 (Allen 4) So this is another win for England in the first two overs, with Kane Williamson heading to mid-on to start the third.
WIRELESS! Conway c Buttler b Woakes 3 (9 balls), New Zealand 8-1
Here’s the early one they needed! Chris Woakes bowls a poor ball, half-tracker on leg stump. Conway for reasons best known to himself decides to pitch it instead of baseballing it off the ground. He does it very well and Buttler dives across and makes good ground to catch. Or is he? The referee is checked before Conway leaves the ground. In the replay you can’t see if the ball hits the ground as Butler lands because his gloves were in the way. But he pretty much just gets up and throws the ball back to the referee instead of celebrating. There is no visual image of the ball hitting the ground, so the catch stands. Something seems a little odd about all of this. The players are waiting for the Third Referee’s decision… Photo: PAO is out! Devon Conway left for 3. Photo: Tertius Pickard/AP Updated at 10.13 GMT 1st over: New Zealand 4-0 (Allen 3, Conway 1) Here’s a surprise from Buttler: Moeen Ali opens the bowling. And foxes New Zealand. They don’t expect this. He bowls an excellent one too, Conway almost caught wide, then punching one off the inside edge on the pad, could have been caught or dropped back onto the stumps. Only four runs from it! Early advantage England. Tom van der Gucht writes. “It’s interesting what you said about England looking better on paper than in the flesh at the moment. It got me thinking about how quickly form can change within this format: two weeks ago, England were on an effervescence after dismantling Pakistan at home and destroying the Aussies in their own backyard only for the wheels to come off since then. “My general theory about cricket is that whatever hasn’t happened or hasn’t happened for a while will happen at some point, especially in T20. This vaguely formed and nebulous philosophy of cricket became more firmly established in my mind during the summer of the Test match, when England kept beating the odds. According to my theory, NZ is due to lose and England due to a big win. Today, I hope, will be the day it happens.” I think I’m with you. Form is greatly overrated, especially in this form, and confused with what is merely effect. Good and bad form exist, but any run of good or bad results is classified as form. “Good morning from a rainy Manchester, Geoff,” writes Matt Hobbs. Great city, send my best. “An element of irony in this run, in my opinion. England were criticized for maintaining their batting order against Ireland and still going down a wicket or two in the dying moments after Ali and Livingstone were dismissed. “Stokes will have to work his socks off if the gamble to bring him back into the T20 squad isn’t going to look more redundant than it already is. Is it time for Adil Rashid to shake off his lackluster form and shine? Let’s hope!” Ladka is emailing. “G’day Geoff. Has Australia really fallen out of love with cricket? I know the AFL is big but these crowds were quite shocking. It looked like the English county. Hopefully Butler and Hales can take the game away from the Blues.” Well, they kind of did. And looking out the window at the Gabba tonight, sure, I can see a lot of those seats in their distinctive vomitorium color scheme, but it’s a huge ground and a very solid crowd tonight. I’ll see if we get the official numbers later. Attracting a huge home crowd to a neutral team has never been much of a possibility, unless the likes of Sri Lanka or India are playing large diaspora fans. So no worries from me about this crowd. Some of the other games were much shorter, but then again, a Bangladesh-Zimbabwe match isn’t going to be the biggest draw in town. So a good score for England, but they didn’t take advantage of the start that Butler and Hales gave them. They lost 4 for 23 in those last overs, and the pace of the innings dropped even though Buttler did his best to maintain it. His run to the non-striker’s goal was more than a little symbolic. Yet! A 180 is a 180, it’s a big task and it will take a big performance from New Zealand to continue to be the only unbeaten team in the group. Updated at 09:47 GMT 20th over: England 179-6 (Curran 6, Malan 3) Enough of the over. A two and a one as Stokes swings and can’t get much from either. Curran catches one! With Ferguson’s pace, the shot over half-off beats a diving Sandner on the ropes and parries away. He was going the distance anyway. But Curran doesn’t get another swing, because he takes a post and almost avoids it, and then they call him a bye. But Stokes…
