A shameful record registered in the name of England. (Photo- Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
England had a very poor performance in the 3-match ODI series against New Zealand, due to which the team had to face defeat. England’s top order was a complete flop in this series. Something similar was seen in the last match of the series also. In this match, none of the top-4 batsmen of England could touch double figures, due to which they made a shameful record in the history of cricket.
This shameful record was registered in the name of England
In the last match of the series, the England team lost the wickets of its top-4 batsmen in just 6.3 overs. During this, Jamie Smith could score only 5 runs, Ben Duckett could score 8 runs, Joe Root could score only 2 runs and captain Harry Brook could score only 6 runs. Something similar was seen in the first two matches of this series also. In the opening match, the top-4 batsmen together had scored only 6 runs. Whereas in the second match, the top-4 batsmen had added 57 runs. That means, in these 3-match series, the top-4 batsmen of England scored only 84 runs.
With this, England made the record of least runs scored by the top-4 batsmen of any team in a series or tournament in the history of ODI cricket. Earlier this shameful record was in the name of Bangladesh team. Bangladesh’s top-4 batsmen had scored only 89 runs in the 1988 Asia Cup. But after 27 years, England has now made this record in its name by showing an even worse game.
New Zealand’s bowlers wreaked havoc
Let us tell you, the first match of the series was played in Mount Maunganui, where England, batting first, could score only 223 runs. During this period, young bowler Zachary Foulkes took 4 wickets from New Zealand’s side, who gave initial shocks to England. Whereas, the second ODI was held at Seddon Park in Hamilton, where England’s batting again collapsed. The team was limited to only 175 runs in 36 overs. New Zealand won easily in both these matches on the basis of its bowling. Now in the last match also such amazing bowling was seen from his side.