In the opening one-day international in Cardiff on Friday, New Zealand defeated hosts England by eight wickets thanks to outstanding centuries from Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell.
In the opening one-day international in Cardiff on Friday, New Zealand defeated hosts England by eight wickets thanks to outstanding hundreds from Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, stepping up their preparations for the World Cup in India later this month.
After being put in to bat at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens, England scored 291-6 thanks to half-centuries from Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Liam Livingstone.
The chase for New Zealand got off to a fast start thanks to runs from Will Young and Henry Nicholls, followed by a magnificent 180-run partnership between Conway (111 from 121 balls) and Mitchell (118 from 91).
After both batsmen reached the 100-run mark, Conway hit a six over the front ground to seal the win.
Very happy with how things turned out; "Having time at center and winning was awesome," Conway said.
"Partnership communication was great. Daryl and I compliment each other well, so it's fun to bat with him every time. Just having him go on strike makes my job easier. It always goes on. is
Harry Brook (25) and Malan (54) scored 80 runs to give England a strong start.
Stokes, who retired from one-day cricket ahead of England's title defense in the 50-over World Cup in India, scored 52 and the openers continued the momentum with just five balls to spare.
After Livingstone (52) and captain Buttler (72) added 77 runs, both bowled by Tim Southee in the same over, England's tail could not get them past 300.
"Disappointing. We thought our score at the halfway point was pretty good. Credit to them; it was a good tie that we just couldn't break," Butler said.
We tried as hard as we could, and for a while, we turned up the pressure and got the score down to just seven, but Daryl Mitchell made some big plays that took advantage of us. Great partnership."
Despite some excellent batting performances, the hosts lost wickets frequently.
