The Black Caps have been comprehensively beaten and have lost any chance of claiming victory in the three-match Twenty20 series against England.
After game one was washed out in Christchurch on Saturday, a 65-run defeat at the same venue leaves New Zealand 1-0 down with one game to play, with just a series draw to play for in Thursday’s series finale in Auckland.
Up against an England side mostly composed of short-form specialists, the Black Caps bowlers copped the brunt of the tourists’ batting unit. Captain Harry Brook (78 off 35 balls) and opener Phil Salt (85 off 56) laid the foundation for England’s 236/4, combining for 129 runs in 69 deliveries.
And while the Black Caps are moving into an age of T20 specialists of their own, a target of nearly two runs per ball was always going to be a huge ask – and they were all out for 171 in response to their Hagley Oval record target.
Tim Seifert was the best the Black Caps’ batters had to offer, with 39 from 29 balls, while captain Mitchell Santner added a cameo of 36 from 15.
A haul of 4/32 from spinner Adil Rashid, though, largely kept New Zealand in check and ensured that England never had to worry about their total being overtaken.
As was the case against Australia at Bay Oval to start the season, the Black Caps can only seal a series draw in the finale.
But on some of the shortest boundaries in the world at Eden Park, against a batting unit that found their mojo, the Black Caps could be staring at even worse against a Brendon McCullum-coached side, eager to put their foot on their hosts’ throats before the one-day series begins next weekend.
Having restricted England to 153/6 in game one, Santner had no hesitation to attempt a repeat in game two, after winning the toss and bowling first again. His decision did not age well.
After reducing England to 68/2 at the end of the powerplay, as Jacob Duffy (1/44) and Michael Bracewell (1/36) removed Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell respectively, Brook and Salt combined to hit the Black Caps attack to all parts of Hagley Oval.
Brook dominated the partnership and cleared the pavilion no fewer than three times, while Salt still managed to add 46 in a support role.
Salt needed 32 balls to raise his half-century, with seven fours and one six. Brook went even better and took just 22 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes, as the pair raised a century stand in 53 deliveries.
The Black Caps could have seen the back of Brook for 39, when he was put down at long-on by Jimmy Neesham off Matt Henry.
England’s captain would double his score from that point, before he hit Kyle Jamieson (2/47) to Tim Robinson at deep midwicket – then Salt perished two balls later when he couldn’t clear Bracewell at long-off.
The damage wasn’t done, though. A Sam Curran six off Jamieson saw England over 200, before an edge over third man from Tom Banton (29 not out) took the visitors to 209 – the highest total batting first in a T20 International at Hagley Oval.
And as the fifth-wicket pair hit an unbeaten 38 runs from the last 14 balls, the Black Caps faced a record chase to take a 1-0 series lead.
Asked to score just under 12 runs per over, Tim Robinson got off the mark with a straight six, but was out for seven when he chipped Brydon Carse (2/27) to Jordan Cox at mid-on to start the second over.
Batting for the first time since he was ruled out of the 2-0 series loss to Australia, Rachin Ravindra hit his first two balls to the boundary – one over cover and the other pulled over midwicket. His third, though, was a thin edge off Carse that carried to Buttler and left the Black Caps 18/2.
The third-wicket pair stemmed the flow of wickets and reached the end of the powerplay at 60/2, on their way to a half-century stand in 32 balls – raised when Seifert hit Rashid over the pavilion.
In response, Rashid and spin partner Liam Dawson (2/38) stopped the Black Caps’ recovery and took four wickets in as many overs to end any faint chance of a Kiwi win.
Mark Chapman had played his part in supporting Seifert, but as the required run rate climbed towards 14 per over, the left-hander hit Dawson to Cox at long-on for 28 and broke the partnership for 69 in the 10th over.
Needing 147 runs from the last 60 balls, Seifert played one shot too many and top-edged a slog-sweep to Cox at long-on. One over later, Bracewell fell in identical fashion, when he hit Dawson to long-off for two.
By the time Daryl Mitchell holed out to Salt at deep midwicket off Rashid for nine, the Black Caps had fallen from 87/2 to 104/6, with the target pushed to three runs per ball.
Some lusty blows from Santner, including 23 from Dawson’s final over, added some credibility to the scorecard. A flick to fine leg off Curran raised the 50-stand with Neesham off 21 balls, albeit with the target being 80 runs from the final 25 balls at the time.
But when Santner and Neesham (17) fell in Rashid’s final over, any chance of the most improbable heist died and saw England put one hand on the series trophy.
England 236/4 (Salt 85, Brook 78; Jamieson 2/47)
New Zealand 171 all out (Seifert 39; Rashid 4/32)
England win by 65 runs