The Black Caps have lost their third Cricket World Cup match in a row, beaten by 119 runs by England at Chester-Le-Street this morning.
The batting order once again failed to fire, apart from a half century by Tom Latham. He top scored with 57 as the Black Caps struggled to 186 all out in response to England’s 305-8 off their 50 overs. The real concern will now be over the top order, once again Martin Guptill and his partner Henry Nicholls were back in the pavilion after only six overs.
Kane Williamson’s shoulders must be pretty sore by now, having basically carried the team throughout the tournament, but even he couldn’t do anything to save the run chase. He was run out for 27 in the 15th over, then followed shortly after by Ross Taylor who was dismissed in the same fashion.
From then on, the result was decided, and the Black Caps simply tried to stay in to preserve their net run rate. The end came in the 45th over, when Trent Boult was stumped by Joss Buttler.
Earlier, opener Johnny Bairstow top scored for the English with 106. He and Jason Roy put on 123 for the first wicket, and it was clear that the bowling attack was missing the pace of Lockie Ferguson, who missed the game through injury. Boult managed to pick up the wickets of Joe Root and Buttler in the middle of the innings, but the fast start the English got out to was always going to set them up for a decent total.
Despite the loss, the Black Caps are essentially assured of a semi-final spot. The only way they could miss out is if Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 316 runs – which would be an almost impossibly achievable total and easily a world record. In fact, if Bangladesh win the toss and decide to bat first, the Black Caps will automatically be assured of their spot.
England 308-5 (50.0 overs) J Bairstow 106, J Roy 60, J Neesham 2-41 (10), M Henry 2-54 (10)
Black Caps 186 all out (45.0 overs) T Latham 57, R Taylor 28, M Wood 3-34 (9)