Mitchell Santner scored his maiden limited overs half-century as the Black Caps’ tail wagged against a rampant England in the second one-day international on Wednesday.
Santner’s unbeaten 63 off 52 balls helped New Zealand set a modest but potentially defendable target of 224 after they lost the toss and were put in to bat at Mount Maunganui.
In-form opener Martin Guptill also scored 50 but runs were hard to come by as England stifled New Zealand’s batting with a superb display in the field.
The Black Caps were all out for 223 with two balls remaining as Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali took two wickets apiece.
England pulled off a string of sharply taken catches and ran out four batsman, ensuring that every chance their bowlers created resulted in a wicket.
The highlight for the Black Caps was a late 69-run partnership between Lockie Ferguson and Santner — who hit a match-winning 45 in the opening match.
New Zealand never recovered from an early double blow by Woakes, who dismissed Colin Munro for one in his first over then Mark Chapman for the same score in his second.
David Willey’s prowess in the field was responsible for Ross Taylor’s departure on 10, swooping on the ball at backward point and firing it to Jos Buttler to break the stumps.
The loss of Taylor, a century-maker in the opening fixture, left New Zealand on 48 for three with Guptill holding the first half of the innings together.
His half-century came off 84 balls but he failed to push on and was caught by Jason Roy on 50 trying to sweep Ali’s spin over the boundary.
Another well taken Roy catch off Ben Stokes’ bowling sent Henry Nicholls on his way, leaving the Black Caps at 82 for five at the 25-over mark.
Colin de Grandhomme contributed 38 but it was then left to Santner to lift New Zealand to a score that looks under par against a strong England batting line-up.
