ENG VS NZ 3RD ODI

That is all from this game. England take the T20Is while New Zealand take the ODI series. However, to conclude the series, England batted first in all three matches - scored below-par scores while getting bundled out on all three occasions. Jamie Overton was their most consistent batter, batting in the lower order. On the other end, New Zealand chasing moderate totals against quality pacers like Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer showed a lot of character on a tough surface. Right then, Mitchell Santner collects the trophy and joins his teammates as they pose for the cameras. Hope you all enjoyed the coverage. We will see you next time. Goodbye for now.

Mitchell Santner, the captain of New Zealand, says that it was nice to see the bowlers getting the job done with the bat because they do practice in the nets. Adds that when you get wickets in the Powerplay, it is massive and applauds the front line pacers for doing that but also appreciates the way Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton batted. Mentions that the opening partnership set things up for them nicely but there were a couple of hiccups and those two run-outs didn't help either. Adds that the most pleasing thing is to see different guys stepping up at different times and goes on to applaud how England managed to hang in the game but appreciates Daryl Mitchell for the way he played throughout the series.

England's captain, Harry Brook says it was an amazing game of cricket and credits his side for a great effort to nearly defend the total. Brook admits that one of the things they have spoken about is that they did not give their bowlers enough runs to defend, but adds that the team will take the learnings from this series and look to improve going forward. Brook adds that it probably didn’t help that he didn’t win the toss. He acknowledges that New Zealand are the second-best team in the world for a reason and they outplayed them. Brook praises the New Zealand seamers for getting the most out of these surfaces, which were tricky to bat on. He concludes by saying that they must continue finding ways to adapt if they want to become the best side in the world and win major tournaments.

Daryl Mitchell is the PLAYER OF THE SERIES. Mitchell starts by saying that it was a pretty exciting game of cricket on a challenging surface, so it was good fun. Reckons that they knew the ball would do a fair bit but they are happy to get the win. Mentions that it is all about building partnerships and putting pressure back on the opposition and also adds that you dream of this pressure as a kid and it is amazing to be able to do it out here in the middle.

Blair Tickner is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his superb effort with the ball. Tickner says that since he does not have a bat sponsor at the moment, he just picked one that suited him best. Mentions that he is happy to have taken New Zealand over the line and adds that it was nice that most of England's bowlers had already bowled out. Credits the guys upfront for doing most of the job, and from there, it was about doing the cleanup job. Shares that he will now return to the domestic grind but will be ready to step in again if the team needs him.

...Time for Presentation...

Earlier in the day, New Zealand chose to bowl first on a grassy surface and their bowlers, Jacob Duffy and Zakary Foulkes, had an impressive start, reducing England to 44/5 inside 11 overs. England's top order struggled, but a crucial partnership between Jamie Overton and Brydon Carse added 58 runs, helping England reach a moderate total of 222. Another 15-20 runs could have helped England to make things interesting.

England were suddenly in a prized position to avoid the whitewash when Daryl Mitchell departed. But with not many runs required for the win, Zakary Foulkes and Blair Tickner came in and did the job without any fuss. Harry Brook changed his bowling plans, refused to bowl a spinner against the likes of Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, and Mitchell Santner, and the gamble almost paid off when Rashid was asked to bowl against the tail, but the plan didn't work as England didn't have many runs to play with.

During the chase, New Zealand went with Devon Conway at the top, and he, along with Rachin Ravindra, took on Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer after soaking in the initial burst from the duo, ending the Powerplay with 64 runs with a 24-run final over off Jofra Archer. Harry Brook gambled by using pacers all along, introducing Adil Rashid in the 30th over, and the magician scalped a wicket in his very first over. However, the Black Caps were in firm control with Daryl Mitchell out in the middle, but there was a twist in the tale when the linchpin got out.

Well, things got closer than we expected, but it was a successful outing for the Black Caps, as they successfully clean-swept the ODIs against this attack-minded English team. If and only if England had managed to score more runs, not just in this game but in the previous games as well, results could have been different, as the English bowlers performed exceedingly well in all three matches. The English bowlers can hold their heads high despite losing the series. However, today the script wasn't quite the same as the first two matches, as the game got a lot closer.

FOUR! As cool as you like from Zakary Foulkes and he hits the winning runs in style. Sam Curran serves this full on the pads and angles it in, Foulkes clips it neatly off the pads and the ball strolls away into the vacant backward square leg fence for four runs. New Zealand win this humdinger of a game by 2 wickets and sweep the series 3-0!

Scores are now level! Short of a length over middle, skidding on. Blair Tickner rocks back to pull but ends up snatching at it and slices it back over the bowler's head for a single. England need a miracle to force a Super Over here.

Oh, the last thing you want is a run out at this stage. Full and outside off, driven towards cover. The batters think about the single but there is some indecision and they decide against it and rightly so.

Tickner somehow gets this one over the slip fielder and picks up two runs as well. Back of a length and around off, Tickner gets cramped but backs away and angles it over the first slip fielder. Adil Rashid does well to move to his left at deep third and save the boundary.

FOUR! That could be the telling blow from Zakary Foulkes and the on-air commentators did mention that he is more than a handy batter. Tossed up, full and on the pads, Foulkes sits down and nails the sweep, firming it just behind square leg for a boundary. New Zealand are 4 runs away from the win now.

Floated up, full and on leg, nudged away straight to square leg.

Tossed up, on a length and outside off, hit away to deep cover for a single.