England Trott home

New Zealand 269 (48.5 overs) England 270-2 (47.4 overs)

It’s rarely easy to chase a total of 269 away from home – especially if your team is as inconsistent as Arsenal. However, England managed it at a canter in Napier today. In doing so, we erased our painful loss in the opening ODI, in which Brendon McCullum turned our bowlers into horse meat.

Although McCullum still had a field day, scoring 74 off just 36 balls – he loves Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes’ bowling  more than Jesse Ryder loves lager – the rest of his teammates let him down badly; except Ross Taylor of course, who compiled a composed century (even if it came off a relatively pedestrian 117 balls). McCullum must wonder why his fellow batsmen find England’s bowling so difficult.

The pick of England’s attack was Jimmy Anderson – rightfully restored to the England ODI lineup after missing quite a few matches in recent years – and Steven Finn. Jimmy celebrated becoming England’s leading wicket taker in all forms of the game with a well deserved 5-34. Meanwhile, Finn again proved as miserly as a Tory chancellor with public money; his 1-33 on a good batting track with a small outfield was a tremendous effort.

Although Swann, Broad and Woakes conceded more than six runs per over, New Zealand’s total of 269 all out was probably thirty runs light. They also committed the cardinal sin of failing to use up their overs; they were bowled out with seven balls remaining.

England rarely looked troubled in their chase. Cook (78 off 92 balls) and Bell (44 off 65) got the innings off to a typically solid start, and although the scoring rate dropped after the dismissal of the former, Trott (65 off 73) and Root (79 off 56) saw us home without breaking sweat.

Once again Root played a blinder. He is now the only player in the history of international cricket to score thirty runs or more in his first six innings.

When Root was selected to tour India, many people assumed it was simply to give him experience. They imagined him to be an orthodox accumulator of runs – perhaps in the vein of Mike Atherton or a young Michael Vaughan. How wrong they were.

Root looks like the finished article already. He’s living proof that the ECB are actually doing something right for once. He’s come through the performance programme, which has given our young players the chance to develop their game in all formats in different conditions, and now we’re seeing the benefits.

Root might have an orthodox technique, but he employs this when needed. The important thing is that he’s got all the shots too. Today he showed his ability to improvise – we saw drives over the top, slog sweeps and even a Dilshan-scoop. Root isn’t the new Mike Atherton. He’s Atherton and Jos Buttler combined. It’s incredibly encouraging to see.

One of the people we should thank, of course, is Graham Thorpe – our new ODI batting coach. Thorpe has worked with Root in his role with the Lions. As a batsman Thorpe was industrious, inventive and calculating; he also played different situations brilliantly. Thorpe is passing all his knowledge onto England’s young guns.

It was Thorpe who recommended Root to the England selectors last winter. He saw something special and believed the young Yorkie was ready for the big stage. Ashley Giles, who outranks Thorpe in the pecking order remember (Giles is, after all, both head of the ODI team and a selector) said recently that he was ‘surprised’ by how well Root is performing.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Giles’ comments at the time. Either he hadn’t watched Root much prior to the India tour, or he isn’t a particularly good judge of a player. Those in the know recognised Root’s talent a long time ago. And now the rest of the world is finding out too.

So now the teams are off to Auckland for the deciding rubber. If England continue this impressive form, the Kiwis will find it incredibly hard to contain them. However, we must remember that this is England we’re talking about – the team that can beat India but lose to Ireland. Anything can happen next.

Who’s your money on? Check out the latest odds at www.freebets.org.uk

James Morgan

Written in collaboration with FreeBets