England topples visiting Kiwis 3-1 to convincingly conquer the bilateral saga: Player Ratings for the Hosts
England has turned their World Cup preparations in full swing with a convincing series win over the familiar foes New Zealand in a three-match bilateral encounter. The Blackcaps led by captain Tom Latham emerged victorious in the opening fixture but failed to carry forward the momentum.
Let’s take a look at the player ratings and detailed performance reports of the Three Lions from the recently concluded home triumph over New Zealand.
Batters
Dawid Malan (10/10): The 36-year-old had a sublime individual outing in this series where he featured in three games and went on to score 50+ runs on all three occasions. He topped the run-scoring charts of the four-match saga despite missing the second ODI in Southampton to attend the birth of his second child. Malan accumulated an astonishing run tally of 227 in three innings while his average of 92.33 was also the highest among batters of both nations.
The Trent Rockets starlet gave a pacy start to Three Lions in the first ODI and contributed 54 runs in the opening stand of 80 runs with fellow youngster Harry Brook. After missing out on his well-deserved century by just four runs in the second match, Malan achieved it in the very next game scoring a 127-run stand.
Jonny Bairstow (1/10): After missing out on the opening clash due to a shoulder injury, the destructive English batter made his first appearance of the ODI series in the second fixture replacing unavailable Dawid Malan. He managed to fetch only 19 runs from three innings including a golden duck in the third game when he was trapped by Trent Boult on the opening ball of the match.
Harry Brook (2/10): The English batting sensation was promoted to open the Three Lions innings in the opening clash for the first time in his thriving One-Day International career. An 80-run opening stand with Dawid Malan helped him to retain his place in the lineup but a failure at Southampton eventually forced the team management to drop the youngster. Brook was recalled for the decisive Lord’s fixture but only managed to contribute 10 runs in the middle order.
Joe Root (1.5/10): Root’s successive failures of 6 at Sophia Garden, 0 at The Rose Bowl, and 4 at Kennington Oval in the first three matches sum up the current form of the former English captain. He got a steady start of 29 runs in the final game but still couldn’t turn it into a big score as it stood as his only double-digit score of the bilateral saga.
Ben Stokes (9/10): Even before the commencement of this series, the English team management made it clear that he has been brought to the ODI setup purely as a batter and won’t be making any contributions with the ball. Stokes made an anticipated return to the 50-over format after 14 months after making his last appearance in July 2022 and struck a fighting fifty.
A failure in the second game triggered the Durham all-rounder to explode in the following fixture where he played an incredible knock of 182 runs off 124 balls making a contribution of 49% in the team total.
ODI Cricket witnessed ‘The Ben Stokes Show’ after a long while
The current red-ball skipper of the Three Lions also broke the record of the highest ODI individual score surpassing Jason Roy’s 180 prowess against Australia in 2018. England has got the perfect fit for the No. 4 position right before the World Cup and even having him only as a batter is a major boost for the defending champions.
Jos Buttler (7/10): During a mini-collapse in the middle overs of the opening game, it was Captain Buttler who stepped up bludgeoning 72 runs thus saving them from the wrath of Lockie Ferguson and Rachin Ravindra. He then got the composing start in the rest of all three matches where he crossed the mark of 30s in each but couldn’t convert any of them into bigger ones.
All Rounders
Liam Livingstone (9/10): The 30-year-old Lancashire maestro’s cracking knock of 52 off 40 balls consisting of three fours and three sixes took the Three Lions towards a respectable first-innings total at Cardiff. During the second fixture, he came out to bat when the English Blues were 5 down for 55 and remained unbeaten until the last ball, smashing 95 runs in a rain-interrupted game.
Livingstone failed to replicate the same in the next match but still went on to make a vital contribution with the ball scalping three wickets at a minimal economy rate of 3.2. He finished the campaign with 186 runs and 4 wickets under his helm while being the only player to make it into the Top 6 scoring charts of runs and wickets.
Moeen Ali (7.5/10): The veteran English knight shined bright with the ball but could not pull the same with the willow in this series. Moeen first appeared in the second ODI where he allied with Captain Buttler for a 48-run partnership before departing on an individual score of 33 runs. His most notable bowling performance came in the decisive fourth ODI after registering marvellous bowling figures of 4 for 50 in 10 overs.
David Willey (8/10): When the Three Lions lost two set half-centurions in the 48th over of the first ODI, it was David Willey who finished off the English innings in style smashing quickfire 21 runs.
The Northampton-born bowling all-rounder played an instrumental role in a successful target defense at Southampton striking three wickets to daunt the Blackcaps to a total of 147 runs. The Royal Challengers Bangalore stalwart picked up 5 wickets in three matches always keeping his economy rate under 6.
Sam Curran (5/10): Curran who was rested for the opening fixture after the T20I campaign, returned to the ODI cricket with a diligent knock of 42 runs. He went wicketless in the same match but managed to pick one wicket each in the latter two games including a crucial dismissal of man-in-form Dary Mitchell at Kennington Oval.
Bowlers
Topley shining his blades for a breakthrough World Cup campaign
Reece Topley (7/10): Topley has now become the leading face of the English white-ball pace unit and he has proved his mettle in this home series. After going wicketless in the First ODI, he gained rhythm at Southampton as he went on to scalp five wickets in his next two appearances.
The Surrey speedster was the most successful bowler of the Southampton fixture as he was credited for shattering the Blackcaps middle order picking three wickets and spending only 27 runs in 7 overs. Not just wickets but Topley also earned praise for his economy rate of 4.7 as tight bowling spells forced Kiwi batters to throw their wickets while taking risks on other bowlers.
Chris Woakes (6/10): Woakes was given preference in the playing XI for the opening clash where he failed to excel in both departments and eventually lost his place to Sam Curran. England’s well-defined rotational policy ultimately brought him back into the team for the Kennington Oval fixture. The right-arm pacer emerged as the Three Lions’ joint-highest wicket-taker staging three key Kiwi dismissals of Will Young, Henry Nicholls, and Latham.
Brydon Carse (7/10): Only a part of the fourth ODI, Brydon’s first appearance came with the willow as he came out to bat in the 47th over and finished the English innings with a maximum against Daryl Mitchell. Carse continued to haunt the Kiwi all-rounder in the second innings as he sent him back to the dressing room on just the fourth delivery of his spell.
Adil Rashid (3/10): Rashid quested the first wicket for the home side in this series when he trapped Will Young in his spin-web and broke NZ’s opening partnership of 61 runs. However, the Yorkshire spin-wizard was taken to the cleaners and turned out to be the most expensive bowler with an economy rate of 8.8 in a losing outcome. He reported a mild calf tightness which sidelined him for the rest of the action as precautionary measures.
Gus Atkinson (4/10): The 25-year-old was handed over his maiden international cap in the First ODI however, the debut match couldn’t fare well for the Chelsea-born pacer. He then picked his debut ODI wicket in the following game with a caught-behind dismissal of the explosive opening batter Devon Conway. Atkinson was replaced by Brydon Carse in the English lineup for the fourth fixture after going wicketless for the second time in his international career’s first 50-over campaign.