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At Chester-le-Street: New Zealand 139-9 from 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 41 from 38 balls; Luke Wood 3-37 from 4 overs, Brydon Carse 3-23 from 4) lost to England 143-3 from 14 overs (Dawid Malan 54 from 22 balls, Harry Brook 43 not out from 27 balls) by seven wickets.
A scratchy display from New Zealand rarely troubled England as the hosts won the opening encounter of their Twenty20 series.
Batting first after being sent in by home-team skipper Jos Buttler, the Black Caps tottered to 139-9 and England reached their target for victory with six overs and seven wickets up their sleeves.
Dawid Malan made 54 from 42 balls opening while Harry Brook was unbeaten on 43 from 27 deliveries.
The visitors couldn’t find any rhythm with bat or ball in the first game of the four-match series, which will be followed by four ODIs.
Glenn Phillips top-scored for the tourists with 41 from 38 balls as New Zealand failed to kick on from Finn Allen’s first-over fireworks.
As expected, Allen (21 from 15 balls) threw the kitchen sink, the dishwasher and the microwave at everything England bowled to him.
Owen Humphreys/AP
New Zealand’s Finn Allen is bowled out by England’s Brydon Carse during their T20 match.
It paid initial lucrative dividends when he deposited Luke Wood into the Durham crowd from three consecutive deliveries in the middle of the opening over.
But Allen’s hit-and-miss approach ended with a miss when impressive debutant Brydon Carse grabbed his maiden international wicket.
New Zealand had already lost the normally more reliable Devon Conway and matters got notably worse when Tim Seifert chose the wrong ball from Wood to try and launch out of the ground and Mark Chapman missed one that turned from Moeen Ali.
An expected saviour, Daryl Mitchell, mis-hit leggie Liam Livingstone to long-off to leave the Black Caps limping at 75-5 in the 12th over and Mitchell Santner became another to perish to turn two overs later.
Phillips appeared capable of giving his side a defendable tally but fell to an excellent catch by Sam Curran as he looked to launch a late-innings assault.
Carse ended with 3-23, Wood recovered well to take 3-37 and England’s spin trio conceded just 54 from their nine collective overs.
Skipper Tim Southee removed Jonny Bairstow in the opening over of England’s pursuit, but Malan quickly got the hosts on track and Brook, not included in England’s provisional World Cup squad, was quick to remind the selectors of his talent.
Conway didn’t field in England’s chase as a precaution after being hit on his left leg by a delivery from Carse during his brief innings.
“Not our best effort, two days to turn it around,” Southee said soon after.
“The way they took wickets stalled our momentum. Our assessment of the wicket was probably a bit off. We look to assess conditions, we stick to our style and it’s worked over a period of time.”
Game two is in Manchester on Saturday morning (NZ time).
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