By BV Swagath
England trashed New Zealand by 10 wickets with as many as 44 balls to spare in the Third and Final T20I at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The tourists with that clinched the 3-match series 2-1.
Asked to bat first after losing the toss, the Kiwis were pegged back by some tight new ball bowling. New Zealand could post a modest total of 139 for 8 on the board with the top scorer being Martin Guptill, who scored a slow 59 (from 55 balls with 2 fours and a six). Steven Finn with 4-0-18-0 and Stuart Broad with 4-0-15-3 were the pick of the bowlers while Jade Dernbach claimed 3 for 36.
England then raced away to the target in just 12.4 overs with Alex Hales blazing away to an unbeaten 80 from just 42 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. Michael Lumb was no less at the other end, scoring 53* from 34 balls with a four and 5 sixes.