Superb Southee demolishes dire England
England's dire start to the World Cup continued on Friday, losing both games against the co-hosts, as New Zealand beat them by an easy eight wickets at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee took seven wickets to see an abysmal England all out for 123. The Black Caps then only needed 12-odd overs to chase down the runs, thanks to some brisk batting from Captain Fantastic, Brendon McCullum.
It was England's worst defeat in terms of balls to spare in an ODI, and their biggest loss in 12 years.
England won the toss and opted to bat first, hoping that setting the score would take the pressure off. It did not. Southee removed both openers, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell, for 20 and eight respectively.
Trent Boult then bagged Gary Ballance, before Joe Root tried his hardest to rescue the knock. The Yorkshireman made 46 off 70 balls, with only three fours, before being sent packing by Adam Milne.
Southee then ripped the heart out of the middle order, bagging James Taylor for a duck and Jos Buttler for three. Eoin Morgan, already under massive pressure to score some runs, was out to Dan Vettori for 17, though he had stuck around for 41 balls.
Southee cleaned up the tail by removing Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, and Steve Finn for single figures, ending with match figures of seven for 33, his new best figures in an ODI. He was, naturally, named man of the match.
The chase was a simple and very quick one, as McCullum clearly wanted to get it over with before the scheduled dinner break. They had 105 runs in just seven overs, 77 of those to McCullum, before Woakes got the consolation wicket.
Steve Finn will want to forget about his part in this game, having taken a hat-trick against the Aussies, as he went from hero to zero. He only bowled two overs, but went for a massive 49 runs in those 12 balls.
They went into dinner with 12 runs still to get, and while Woakes removed Martin Guptill in the over after the break, it was easy work for Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to finish the game. The entire match lasted 45.4 overs.
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