Black Caps v England: New Zealand handed heavy defeat in opening Twenty20 at Chester-le-Street

England batsman Dawid Malan hits out against the Black Caps. Photo / Getty Images

In the shadow of Lumley Castle the Black Caps barely fired a catapult in their opening Twenty20 clash of their four-match series against England, with the hosts cruising to a seven-wicket win with six overs to spare.

The Black Caps started the series with intent at Chester-le-Street, Finn Allen hitting three consecutive sixes in the opening over. But that was the extent of their opening barrage.

Unfortunately, the side managed three more sixes in the next 19 overs and two of those came from their eighth and ninth batsmen to the crease - a strong sign the recognised batters hadn’t done their job.

Glenn Phillips top-scored with 41 from 38 balls and aside from Allen’s quickfire 21 at the top of the innings, the rest of the top seven failed to reach beyond 11. Some late blows from Ish Sodhi and Adam Milne got the Black Caps to 139 for nine. Not enough runs and too many wickets. They can’t even blame rust, after getting the chance to play warm-up games in the lead-in, which are becoming even rarer in the modern game.

The hosts did damage with pace, fast bowlers Luke Wood (3-37) and debutant Brydon Carse (3-23) ripping through the New Zealand order while three other bowlers chipped in with wickets.

The Black Caps’ bowling effort was similar to the batting - akin to archers firing against a brick wall.

Tim Southee made an early breakthrough, removing veteran Jonny Bairstow with the second ball of the England chase, but Dawid Malan (54) and Will Jacks (22) put on a fast 57 for the second wicket to get the England run rate to a run-a-ball - cruise mode in the T20 game.

Harry Brook, who missed selection for England’s ODI World Cup squad, closed out the victory with 43 from 27 balls including a six to secure victory with 36 balls left in their innings. All but one of the five New Zealand bowlers went for less than 10 runs an over, Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Sodhi sharing the wickets.

It is England’s third-biggest win over the Black Caps in terms of wickets and the 36 balls remaining is the next largest since the 2013 thrashing at Sky Stadium, when England also chased down 140 but without losing a wicket and with 44 balls left.

Luke Wood of England bowls under the backdrop of Lumley Castle during the opening T20 International in Chester-le-Street. Photo / Getty Images

Captain Southee admitted they got it wrong when looking over conditions before the game.

“Not our best effort, two days to turn it around. The way they took wickets stalled our momentum,” Southee told TVNZ 2.

“Our assessment of the wicket was probably a bit off. We look to assess conditions, we stick to our style and it’s worked over a period of time. Glenn Phillips has been phenomenal, especially in sticky situations he finds a way to get us through to a score. Great to see him still in form, like I say, couple of days to turn things around in Manchester.”