Twitter Reactions: New Zealand choke England in the death overs to take a lead in the series

Making the most of their win in the second T20I, New Zealand continued their winning run to beat England by 14 runs in the third T20I in Nelson. With the win, New Zealand took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series and are now just one win away from clinching the trophy. It was yet another impressive all-round performance from the Black Caps that has put them in the driver’s seat.

Chasing a competitive total of 181, England ended their innings on 166 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Opener Dawid Malan top-scored for the side with 55 while James Vince missed his second fifty of the series by just one run. But barring Malan and Vince, the new-look England side did not show much of a fight with the bat as New Zealand registered an easy win in the end.

Debutant Tom Banton started on a promising note by hitting two fours and a six but could not capitalise on the start and departed for 18. His dismissal brought Malan and Vince in the middle and the two put England on the track by adding 63 runs for the second wicket. Ish Sodhi gave his side the much-needed breakthrough by accounting for Malan.

England captain Eoin Morgan and Vince, however, did not let New Zealand capitalise on the start as they brought the chase back on track. By the time the partnership came to an end with Morgan’s dismissal in the 15th over, England needed only 42 from 30 balls with seven wickets in hand. However, they suffered an inexplicable middle-order collapse which allowed New Zealand to tighten things and eventually restrict the visitors to 166 for 7.

Colin de Grandhomme stars for New Zealand

Earlier in the game, New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme impressed with the bat by scoring a quickfire fifty to propel his side to 180 for 7. The hard-hitting batsman slammed 55 from just 35 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes to put New Zealand on course for the big total. Prior to him, opener Martin Guptill hit seven fours in his 17-ball 33-run knock to start the innings on a good note.

Towards the end, the likes of Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner played handy knocks to make sure New Zealand finished strongly. For England, Tom Curran was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 2 for 29 from his four overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

NobodyCanStopEnglandinWT20.exe has crashed. #NZLvENG

— Manya (@CSKian716) November 5, 2019

England have looked a batsman light in the T20s in NZ. Sam Curran one too high in the order at 6 I think. Also cricket has been a bit brainless at times. Plenty of room for improvement.
England now 2-1 down with 2 to play.#NZvENG #NZvsENG

— CricketBadger (@cricket_badger) November 5, 2019

I highly doubt RCB leaving CDG this year's 3 reason

–> less price
–> he is in good form
–> you know even NZ team can play without NZ player but RCB playing without NZ player not gonna happen

— Sai (@sairammurthy6) November 5, 2019

Sam Curran in the T20 series vs NZ:

4-0-33-1
4-0-22-2
4-0-29-1#NZvENG

— Johns (@CricCrazyJohns) November 5, 2019

Age of England bowlers in the third T20:

Patrick Brown – 21
Sam Curran – 21
Saqib Mahmood – 22
Matthew Parkinson – 23
Tom Curran – 24#NZvENG

— Johns (@CricCrazyJohns) November 5, 2019

What a place to watch a game of cricket ⛰😍#NZvENG pic.twitter.com/paaeA8gD7h

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 5, 2019

de Grandhomme: "I'm definitely enjoying number four – I hit it pretty well in Sri Lanka and it seemed to carry on here at home now. It's nice getting in earlier for me because the field is still in and it gives me more access to the boundaries." #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/gQOOywqX4H

— 🏏FlashScore Cricket Commentators🏏 (@FlashCric) November 5, 2019

Morgan: "That one that got away from us. We were in control of the whole chase until we were about 3-4 down. I think a lack of experience in the chase cost us, but guys that come in need to get into more situations like that in order for us to find out more about them." #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/0qUc0Vmef3

— 🏏FlashScore Cricket Commentators🏏 (@FlashCric) November 5, 2019

Morgan: "I think it's great how competitive the series is and we're integrating everyone into the squad. Gameplan remains the same: everything we do is about smart and positive and aggressive cricket, and we want young guys to come in and adapt to that." #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/aF6g89bsXE

— 🏏FlashScore Cricket Commentators🏏 (@FlashCric) November 5, 2019

Southee: "It is always tough when Morgan is there, but we knew if we kept taking wickets we could make it tough for the next man coming in. It could have gone either way at the halfway mark of the innings." #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/ev1PSomeh1

— 🏏FlashScore Cricket Commentators🏏 (@FlashCric) November 5, 2019

*Pokémon meme playing Cricket* #NZvENG #GOAT pic.twitter.com/MAnwzugiNW

— Srijan (@its_Srijan) November 5, 2019

England didn't choke, they GOT choked #NZvENG

— Emms 💚 (@LordeEmms) November 5, 2019

New Zealand have now played England 19 times in the T20I format over 12 years. Ross Taylor has played in the lot. #NZvEng

— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) November 5, 2019

Well that was a shocker after such a great 1st 10-12 overs…..silly wickets given away…..🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁🦁🦁 #NZvENG

— Nico (@villayouth74) November 5, 2019

What a finish 👏👏
Only @BLACKCAPS could have pulled that one back 🤜#NZvENG

— No Boundaries (@CWC19Winner) November 5, 2019

Tickner was way too good… should gotta play 2 more games! #NZvENG

— Ali Munawar (@ImAliMunawar) November 5, 2019

Unreal Choke from England #NZvENG

— Udit (@udit_buch) November 5, 2019

Champions of the world or beating England’s b team in a meaningless game. Hard choice #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/O8uzFYOh9I

— . (@Brom68) November 5, 2019

NZ seemed to have mastered the art of choking teams when they are cruising to a victory. #NZvENG

— Kunal Gupta (@twtkunal05) November 5, 2019

Seems that @englandcricket was walking that run chase before the wheels came off. Too many silly shots, losing wickets, that caused dot balls. Well done to @BLACKCAPS for capitalising. #NZvENG

— Jonathan Northall (@jnorthall) November 5, 2019