New Zealand ties T20 series with England 2-2 after winning final match by 6 wickets

AP

Nottingham, September 6

New Zealand completed its comeback from 2-0 down to tie the Twenty20 series against England by winning the fourth and final match by six wickets on Tuesday.

Set a victory target of 176 at Trent Bridge, the New Zealanders had a 32-ball 48 from opener Tim Seifert before Glenn Phillips accelerated the middle part of the chase with 42 off 25 balls.

Mark Chapman (40 not out off 25) saw the tourists over the line with 16 balls left to cap a sharp turnaround in the series that England started so well with heavy wins in Durham and Manchester.

New Zealand hammered England by 74 runs in Birmingham on Sunday to stay alive in the series and dominated the fourth match after dismissing Jonny Bairstow (73 off 41 runs, including six sixes), who gave England a fast start.

From 105-1 early in the 11th over, England lost momentum following the removal of Bairstow and sputtered to 175-8, which always felt too little on a ground known for producing big totals.

The teams now meet in a four-match one-day international series, starting Friday, that serves as a warm-up for the upcoming Cricket World Cup in India starting in October.

In a concern for England, Bairstow didn’t keep wicket in New Zealand’s chase because of injury. Jos Buttler, who wasn’t in the starting lineup to give himself a rest, took the gloves. 

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