New Zealand's Glenn Phillips dives at the boundary to save a six from England's Dawid Malan during the third T20 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Photo / AP
What a way to bounce back. After suffering their heaviest Twenty20 defeat to England two days ago, the Black Caps have responded with their largest win over their rivals with a 74-run victory in the third match at Edgbaston.
The Black Caps were down and almost out in
the series after losing the opening two encounters including a 95-run defeat in Manchester, their loss biggest in terms of runs against England. But they’ve ensured a shot at a shared series after an impressive batting display with two players largely responsible.
Finn Allen’s 53-ball 83 at the top of the order along with 69 from 34 balls from Glenn Phillips helped New Zealand score 202-5 and set England an imposing target to take a 3-0 lead in the four-match series.
Between them, Allen and Phillips hit 11 sixes and put on 88 for the third wicket as New Zealand passed the 200 mark for the 18th time in T20s - five of which have been in the last 15 months.
Allen hit three consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid in the 15th over and eyed his second T20 century before being bowled by Luke Wood with three overs remaining in the innings. Phillips continued the destruction of the England bowling attack and along with late boundaries from Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell, saw New Zealand set the second-highest target at the ground.
