As an employee of the series sponsor, we had free tickets, so, after a short visit to D4 for some pre-match refreshment, a bunch of us headed down to the Westpac stadium to watch the match.
Despite losing in Hamilton after winning the toss and deciding to put The Black Caps in, England followed exactly the same tactic in Wellington. Was this to be a "that's the last thing they'll expect" -type thing, like generals ordering troops over the top in World War 1 for the umpteenth time?
Out came the Black Caps, and proceeded to put on a fairly lacklustre show of batting. No-one really got hold of the innings and the boundaries were few and far between. By the end, they'd put on 139/8. Not a big target in T20, and the England openers were able to dispose of it in 13 overs without troubling their No. 3 batsman.
Guptill sends one to the boundary |