England’s deep batting line-up is a constantly enduring one but in front of a Trent Boult masterclass in the powerplay and death, the story became something else. However, Jason Roy was disinterested in the reputation and carried on with his own little momentum. In the process, he was guided by small cameos from Eoin Morgan (23 off 14) and Chris Jordan (18 off 9) but Boult managed to get things back on track in the death as England posted a challenging total of 176/8 in 20 overs.

177 was not a difficult target to achieve but it needed them to do away with the complacent attitude that engulfed their batting lately. As if nothing has changed, they were really lackadaisical in their approach, scoring 22 runs in five overs. However, Williamson managed to get things right on track with heavy pounding on Archer. Ross Taylor and Tim Seifert saw that as an opportunity to find the mojo back, which they did with  elan. Anything but a mystical 18 needed off the last over, that too against Jordan, the writing was on the wall, but 10 runs off the first two balls made things interesting. Although Taylor was dismissed on the last ball, Ferguson tonked a couple of hits to the stands to close an improbable three-wicket win

A turning point is where a game changes but today, it was the point where the game ended. After delivering three spine-chilling overs in the powerplay and middle overs, you would trust Chris Jordan, easily one of the best death-over bowlers around, to deliver in the last over 9 out of 10 times. Not today, as he gave away two back-to-back sixes to Lockie Ferguson on the last two deliveries as New Zealand scampered to a thrilling three-wicket win. Spin in the narrative - New Zealand on the right side of a thriller!

With 119/3 in 14 Over, England were staring at a fine resurgence of their own and 200 was safely in the sight. But fate’s obsessive affair with England and New Zealand encounters worked in a brilliant way as Ish Sodhi accounted for both Jason Roy and Ben Stokes in back-to-back deliveries to break their back. From that point on, everything was an un-England-like performance, mustered at their own peril. 

If Jason Roy and Jos Butter are your two openers, you expect the fireworks to lit up the sky in the powerplay overs, but New Zealand had Trent Boult and Ish Sodhi to thank for pulling the plug. That England could only score 49/1 after Lockie Ferguson being smacked by the Surrey Opener to cleaners restored balance in Kiwi favours. England could consider it as a chance lost.

It was that kind of a match and surely, that kind of a wicket of historically slow and low Sharjah wicket. With spinners dictating norms early in the innings, England floundered but a couple of decent covers helped them score 81 runs in the middle over exchange. With Roy in fine form, NZ applied the choke at the other end and that reaped rich dividends.

Losing both Ben Stokes and Jason Roy in the 15th Over brought a massive modulation for the Englishmen, and they never really recovered fully. That aided with Trent Boult’s thunderous performance ensured England didn’t reach the 200-run mark - a victory for New Zealand’s well-oiled bowling unit. 

Easily the best match in the SRL history, we can all be thankful to the two teams for playing out a fantastic game of cricket when the world is gasping for breath due to the Corona outbreak. I surely did enjoy every ounce of it.