Bit ridiculous to take the scheduled break with only 12 runs to get.
Fastest World Cup 50 ever. Never ever seen a Kiwi sense with this sheer confidence and ruthlessness: they’re playing like Aussies without the big mouths.
Side, not sense.
With bat & ball, one of the best T20 performances ever! 
Hell, McCullum was playing beach cricket, never mind T20, and Southee was just a monster: 7 for 33. NZ vs Aussie at Eden Park next week should be good.
And the game in Brisbane tomorrow will not go ahead. There is no chance with the rain we have had and are going to get.
Meanwhile, in an actual T20 Game, the England Women’s team scored 122/5 and were beaten by the New Zealand Women by 4 wickets.
Quick drive by (life has really got in the way of cricket recently) to say:
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Sigh.
On the bright side, we’ve avoided the disruptive influence of having Pietersen in the team which means the players can really coalesce and work together as a unit.
As a Scot who normally supports England, I was resigned to not minding an England win as a stepping stone to greater success. Now, I frankly think a Scots win would be better for everybody involved. England get a kick up the arse, and Scotland get a major boost.
Well I just went for a long, slow shake of the head but the sentiment is the same.
Depressing thing though is that NZ are destructive with the bat but their bowling attack is good rather than great. The fact England failed to summon any semblance of control both with and against the ball…pretty shameful really.
Based on form so far you may not need to wish too hard for that!
Well, that’s what makes it exciting!
In contrast to most Scottish cricket.
Missed the game. What exactly went wrong for the English.
Their bus arrived at the ground.
NZ really do have their fielding sewn up: it’s not spectacular, but they don’t let much escape, and that probably cost England a score of runs. Nice to see Vettori leaping about out there, at the age of 36: his last hurrah, but he’s been a great servant and this is a fitting end for him.
And their team apparently didn’t.
Reminiscent of Gary Gilmour blowing England away back in the first World Cup ever, except that, you know, England have seen Southee bowl before. :smack:
NZ are doing extremely well and it was a demolition of England.
On a cautious note, I don’t think they have played a ODI outside NZ so far this year. You’d expect them to do well (though probably not THIS well).
Last year a lot of their games (ODI’s) were also played in NZ and the ones overseas produced a mixed result. However that was a year ago and the team seems to be playing with a hell of a lot of confidence.
Just looking at the fixtures I guess it would be possible for them to play every match in NZ until the final should they make it that far - which seems likely.
The worrying thing, apart from the complete lack of anything approaching self-belief or skill by any of the England players, is that Bangladesh are likely to take a point off Australia due to the rain tonight. That means that England basically can’t lose any more games or they will risk not qualifying.
The two games they’ve lost are games I expected them to lose, but the manner of the defeat to NZ leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It’s hard to see them winning against Scotland after that performance, never mind Sri Lanka.
Andre Russell bashes the West Indies to a competitive 310 against Pakistan in Christchurch. It should be a good chase to watch.
Or not with Pakistan now 1 for 4