By BV Swagath
England cruised to an 8-wicket win with 14 balls to spare in the Second ODI against New Zealand at the McLean Park in Napier. The 3-match series is now leveled 1-1 with the decider to be played on the 23rd at Auckland.
Asked to bat first after losing the toss, New Zealand overcame a slow start to score a healthy 269 before getting bowled out in 48.5 overs. Ross Taylor, who is on an international comeback of sorts, scored a 7th ODI century for the hosts. Taylor’s 100 came in 117 balls with 9 fours and a six. Skipper Brendon McCullum also came good, scoring a blazing 74 from just 36 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. New Zealand were going strong at 243 for 4 in the 45th over but lost their last six wickets for just 26 runs!
James Anderson was the bowling star for the visitors taking 5 for 34 while Chris Woakes picked up 3 for 68. England had a couple of good partnerships early on which set them nicely to chase the target of 270. Skipper Alastair Cook led from the front scoring 78 from 92 balls with 7 fours and a six. Jonathan Trott with 65* (from 73 balls with 3 fours) and young Joe Root with 79* (from 56 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes) finished the match for England.