The comeback man Ben Stokes’ all-round performances helped England to win the second ODI of the five-match ODI series against the hosts New Zealand at Mount Maunganui on Wednesday. With this victory, England levelled the series by 1-1 at the end of the second game.
England decided to bowl first after winning the toss. England bowlers were dominating over the hosts from the beginning as New Zealand was bundled out for just 223 runs. Stokes took two wickets and also involved in two run-out dismissals.
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In reply, Stokes and skipper Eoin Morgan majorly helped England to clinch the victory. The duo put an important 88-runs partnership for the fourth wicket which secured the match for their side. While Morgan was dismissed on 62 runs, Stokes remained unbeaten on 63 runs as England won the game by 6 wickets with 73 balls to spare.
For his all-round performance, Stokes was awarded the Player of the Match award.
After the match, Stokes revealed their mindset for the second game. He said, “We wanted to come back strong after the defeat in the first game. We thought we let ourselves down in the first game and the lads showed that with the intensity in the field. It’s good to get out here and train and implement it in the games. I wanted to make sure I was in the end and it was a good stepping stone for the games coming up.”
On the other hand, English skipper Morgan was pleased with team’s effort in the second game. He said, “We raised our level of intensity, especially with the first 10 overs with the ball and that was backed up in the field. It was as good a performance we could have hoped for in the field.”
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Due to Kane Williamson’s hamstring injury, Tim Southee led the New Zealand side on Wednesday. In their innings, only the opener Martin Guptill and the lower-order Mitchell Santner looked positive with the bat. While Guptill was dismissed on 50 runs, Santner was unbeaten on 63 runs. However, those knocks were not enough for his team to produce a winning total.
Here are some Twitter reactions of the match
Great team performance and sets the rest of this series up beautifully! #1-1 #EngvsNz
— Joe Root (@root66) February 28, 2018
Top class performance by @benstokes38
Stock storm is back…..#BenStokes #EngvsNz pic.twitter.com/1Xdta7HEO6— Vinayak Sharma (@ImVinayak27) February 28, 2018
First win for @englandcricket
Hopefully they will win the series
— اسد (@asadmajed18) February 28, 2018
Good to see @benstokes38 straight away winning the matches for his side. 2 wickets in the first game, 2wickets and a match winning 60* couldn't have asked for a better come back #stokes #EngvsNz @cricketaakash @englandcricket
— Sachin valluri (@sachin_valluri) February 28, 2018
Good to see Big Ben back in the team and delivery wickets and run-outs! #EngvsNz
— Robert Gilbert (@thegilbertros) February 28, 2018
A real treat watching @benstokes38 roar back to form and fitness in the Bay of Plenty today. @englandcricket set the tone with some sublime fielding and dominated throughout as a result #NZvsENG
— Dan Sheridan (@dansheridan) February 28, 2018
Englands fielding today 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#NZvsENG 🏏
— MAVERICK-10. (@deanbowey) February 28, 2018
