- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 18 Oct 2025 04:53 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
NZ vs ENG 1st T20I: The 1st T20I between New Zealand and England was abandoned due to incessant rain when the visitors were trying to defend their target of 153 runs. England's winter began on a disappointing note in Hagley Oval, where they had posted a respectable target, but the weather played a spoilsport in the host chase.
Since there's just a month left for the Ashes Test series, England has picked three players from the Ashes squad for their playing XI. But it was star all-rounder Sam Curran, who shone brightly. He had scored an unbeaten knock of 49 runs off 35 balls and helped the team bounce back after they were reeling at 81/5. His catches were dropped twice, and he also survived an LBW call in Kyle Jamieson's over, where he scored 18 runs off the last five balls.
Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, and Harry Brook did have flying starts, but no one came close to Curran's onslaught. The visitors were able to fight back on a tricky pitch. Matt Henry was the pick among the bowlers in the powerplay, whereas spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell were hit for just one four in six overs. But it started pouring after the first innings, and the match was then abandoned at 10:12.
This washed match did more harm to the host as six bowlers had taken wickets amongst them and might have as well chased this target. The visitors were without the services of Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, and Will Jacks since they will be playing in the Ashes next month. The visitors' opening pair of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler had scored 1000 runs in the shortest format and at an average of more than 50, and showed glimpses of their sublime form. Buttler began his innings with a six, but Salt was dismissed early, and Bethell also got out after scoring 15 runs.
England skipper Harry Brook talked about the match and said, "The ball did a bit to start with and New Zealand are very experienced with the new ball—Matt Henry especially, who made the most of the pitch. We obviously want to adapt to the situation and surface, but with the depth we have, we think we can go hard throughout. We have some extremely talented and powerful batters, so if we don't get the start we want, we can accelerate at the end. In the next game, we want to adapt quicker, all of us."
Both teams will be playing against each other for the 2nd T20I at the same venue on Monday, and the last match will be held in Auckland. A three-match ODI series will be held after this, where players like Joe Root, Ben Duckett, and Jofra Archer will be seen in action.