Twitter Reactions: Morgan, Stokes help England draw the equalizer in second ODI

After a thrilling contest in the first ODI where the New Zealand side eked out a narrow win, the expectations were high from the second ODI. But as the things turned out on the day, it was a rather one-sided affair with England equalizing in the series. English skipper Eoin Morgan led from the front to see his side cruise to an easy win in Mount Manganui. The series now stands leveled 1-1 with three more matches to play.

Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to field first. The hosts were dented early in the lead up to the game with their skipper Kane Williamson being injured. Tim Southee led the team in his absence. New Zealand had a horrific start to their innings with Chris Woakes removing Colin Munro and Mark Chapman on 1 run each.

The centurion of the previous game, Ross Taylor, could only score 10 in the match. Tom Latham (22) showed some brief resistance and played the second fiddle to Martin Guptill at the crease. Guptill batted well for his patient knock of 50 runs that came off 87 runs. The wickets of Latham and Henry Nicholls (1) fell in quick succession and the Kiwi innings crashed big time.

They were reeling at 108/6 by the end of the 30 overs. Things could have been lot worse had Colin de Grandhomme (38) and Mitchell Santner (63*) added crucial runs in the lower order. Santner, who was the hero for the Kiwis in the first ODI, proved to be the highest scorer for them in this match as well with New Zealand bundling out for 223 in 49.4 overs. The New Zealand innings was highlighted by as many as four runouts in the match.

In the run chase, England lost Jason Roy and Joe Root for single digits. Jonny Bairstow (37) and Eoin Morgan (62) then rallied the innings along after the initial jolts. After the dismissal of Bairstow, comeback man Ben Stokes supported Morgan in the chase. Morgan perished in the 31st over with the visitors still fifty runs short of the win.

Jos Buttler arrived at the crease and continued batting with his sublime form. He scored an unbeaten 36 off 20 deliveries to wrap things off early. Stokes finished with an unbeaten 63 to his name as well with seven boundaries and a six. England won by 6 wickets and the series stands leveled at 1-1.

Here is how the fans reacted to the New Zealand vs England 2nd ODI:

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