1. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor.
New Zealand fans must savour this world-class 3-4 combination.
The pair delivered their eighth century partnership across 36 stands in the 50-over format. Apart from setting up the result, their 206-run partnership was the:
- highest by New Zealand for the third wicket against any
country in ODIs.
- highest for any New Zealand ODI wicket against England.
- second highest for the third wicket of any country against England, three runs short of Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir's unbeaten 209 at Delhi in 2011.
- third highest partnership in New Zealand ODI history.
Taylor and Williamson hit tons in win
Williamson's 118 from 113 balls maintained his matter-of-fact method, disguising the fact his century came up in 88 balls. He has passed 50 runs in 24 of 72 ODI innings; a one in three ratio.
His seventh ODI century was highlighted by an on-drive from Adil Rashid where the footwork looked like he was playing a bespoke version of hopscotch.
Likewise, Taylor imposed himself with another clinical display, his 14th ODI century. He completed the feat of consecutive ODI centuries for a fourth time. To give that context, Martin Guptill has done it twice, Mark Greatbatch once... and that's it.
2. Ben Wheeler delivered as Trent Boult heads home injured.
New Zealand's 185th ODI cricketer was there at the end, making three from six as the visitors negotiated the required 13 from 19 of the 25 balls after Taylor was dismissed.
Wheeler had already achieved relative success with the ball, taking three for 63. He took the opening wicket of Alex Hales (23 off 21) and added Ben Stokes (68 from 47) and Sam Billings (34 from 16) when both looked dangerous.
His first spell secured one for 25 from six overs; his second at the start of the powerplay was punished for 25 runs from two overs and his third gleaned two for 13 from two overs under pressure.
Boult has suffered a back injury after the second ODI. Scans are yet to confirm a diagnosis. No replacement has been added to the squad.
Wheeler looks an admirable candidate to bring in.
3. England's fielding and use of the full 50 overs.
Being dismissed 28 balls inside 50 overs and dropping three catches (two off Taylor on 67 and 72 and one off Williamson on 109) proved key differences.
Regarding the early exit, captain Eoin Morgan noted that's the price they'll pay on occasion when applying their new aggressive style. However, the fielding mistakes were crippling and, particularly with Taylor, provided the biggest swings in the match momentum.
#Ford, the driving force behind the Black Caps
