Sport - Cricket

New Zealand clinches series

LONDON: All eyes were on Kevin Pietersen, pushed into the England one-day captaincy of the final match of the series between England and New Zealand at Lord’s after Paul Collingwood’s suspension. It was his first trial as captain and he will not want to remember either his own part, six scored off 23 balls or another wretched batting show by an England side beaten by 51 runs, 3-1 loser in the series and lucky not to lose 4-1.

By the time England batted the sun had taken the green out of the pitch. Ian Bell and Alastair Cook (Collingwood’s replacement) maintained a rate ahead of New Zealand’s. Fifty came in the 11th over but in the next over Bell was lbw trying to flick a ball from Gillespie to square leg and in came Pietersen, who turned 28 on Friday, and so quickly out of the trap it was obvious he was desperate for his first innings as captain to begin. He is an anxious starter and failed to connect with his first four balls but, after a series of deep knee bends, hit the fifth and came close to a run out in the next over. Gillespie had bowled six overs for 12 runs when Southee took over at the pavilion end and got got Cook in his first over.

By the 35th over England had been so bemused by the careful bowling of Styris, the dynamism of Southee and the skill of Vettori that it had dropped behind New Zealand’s rate. Owais Shah’s stylish 69 off 75 balls was wasted.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu