The pattern of England’s losses in one-day matches has become so predictable that it risks becoming a cliché.
Once again suffering due to their batsmen’s lack of form, particularly those bound for the Ashes, England faced a 3-0 sweep by New Zealand at Sky Stadium, losing by two wickets.
In the midst of their 12th loss in 16 one-day internationals, Jamie Overton emerged as the standout performer, despite not being part of the squad traveling to Australia for the upcoming five-Test series. Overton had opted out of selection for the tour.
The Surrey all-rounder took charge after a disastrous start, where England lost half their team within the first 61 balls. He was the last man standing with a commendable 68 off 62 balls, keeping England competitive and playing a pivotal role in disrupting New Zealand’s pursuit of 223.
Overton first broke an opening partnership of 78 by deflecting a drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, dismissing Devon Conway.
England fell to yet another one-day defeat in New Zealand to whitewash the series 3-0 against
Jamie Overton made a powerful contribution with the bat and ball but will not be in the side for the first Ashes Test this month
Subsequently, after Sam Curran bowled through Rachin Ravindra’s defenses, Overton added pressure by outpacing Will Young, claiming a third wicket in as many overs.
England made this game closer than the previous encounters here with regular breakthroughs – unusually, including another run out deflection by Brydon Carse to account for Tom Latham.
And Overton’s reward for being the biggest threat with the ball was figures of 10-1-32-2: the castling of county colleague Nathan Smith leaving the Black Caps 191 for seven.
When Curran became the first bowler to dismiss Daryl Mitchell this series – finding the outside edge after changing the angle to around the wicket – there were still 27 runs required with tail-enders Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner new to the crease.
But New Zealand’s ninth-wicket pair belied their status with some classy strokes and cool heads to get over the line in the 45th over, making England pay for their groundhog day start to the match.
The 84 runs made by England’s top four here is the lowest contribution in a three-match series by any team in the history of the game.
Statistically, the opening combination of Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett, out for single figures once again, are the worst England have fielded in the last 15 years.
Between their dismissals, Joe Root was undone by a huge nip-backer from Foulkes and Brook and Jacob Bethell both perished to Jacob Duffy.
Brook’s team had been reduced to 143 for seven in each of the defeats in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton, but this time it was even worse as Jos Buttler was seventh out – his off stump knocked back by a huge seaming delivery from the rejuvenated Blair Tickner – with 102 on the board.
And so they were thankful for Overton’s latest powerful contribution from No 8, in helping England more than double their score. The bulk of the runs coming during a stand of 58 with Brydon Carse, who blasted four sixes in a 30-ball 36.
The repair job was required after England succumbed to considerably more swing and seam movement with the new ball than had been witnessed in games one and two.
Despite the bowler-friendly conditions that a drop-in pitch at Wellington’s multi-sport venue provided, the tourists’ top order continued to attack and half the team were dismissed one delivery out of the initial power play.
To add to the ignominy, Matt Henry’s calf injury took the number of missing pace bowlers among the New Zealanders to six.
Zak Foulkes, in particular, made the ball talk, yet it was Jacob Duffy who took the lion’s share of the first five wickets, before Tickner bagged a four-wicket haul for the second game in succession.
He was on the verge of a maiden five-for in one-day internationals when Carse and Jofra Archer were lured into mishits within the space of four overs.
But it was a change of pace that finally did for Overton shortly after he celebrated a run-a-ball 50 via a flurry of boundaries, as Santner suckered the Surrey all-rounder with a wide one to wrap up the innings.
