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England host New Zealand in the second and final Twenty20 international of the series with the Black Caps 1-0 following a five-run victory on Tuesday.
It’s the last match of the tour for the Kiwis, with the Three Lions having won the two-match Test series before the visitors snatched the one-day crown.
Now it’s the shortest form of the game and the home side must win if they want to level the series in the last international match they will play before the start of the highly anticipated Ashes contest starts on July 10.
The previous 20-over tie between these sides was a display of batting prowess in what seemed like a bad pitch for bowlers at the Oval – but produced some big scores.
New Zealand set their opponents a daunting target of 202 for victory, after impressive half-centuries from Hamish Rutherford and captain Brendon McCullum helped post 201-4.
England’s reply was valiant – with particularly good knocks from Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara – but in the end the hosts fell just short, with six required off the last ball to level the match.
Needless to say Ben Stokes couldn’t manage it and the five-run deficit was even more bitter as it was the same margin of defeat that saw the English lose to India in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday.
There is positive news for the Three Lions heading into this second match though as Kevin Pietersen will return to the national side after a knee injury for the first time since March – replacing the injured Eoin Morgan.
James Tredwell will skipper the team in Morgan’s absence.
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