New Zealand were confident starters to the Twenty 20 match but all went reverse. England produced their most convincing Twenty20 performance since crushing Australia at The Rose Bowl during their first game in 2005. They restricted New Zealand to 123 for 8 at Old Trafford, then an effortless 60 from Ian Bell made the run-chase a cakewalk, as a full house watched them romp home by nine wickets with 15 balls to spare.
It was almost the perfect Twenty20 game from England. The bowlers were exemplary, led by Stuart Broad and James Anderson, as Brendon McCullum - the man who made 158, the highest Twenty20 score, in the opening IPL match - batted into the 11th over for 24. The ground fielding was fast and accurate while the catching, except for one drop by Paul Collingwood, was secure. Contrast this with New Zealand who lost Jacob Oram 10 minutes before the game, were laboured with the bat sloppy in the field and there's no question which side enters Sunday's first ODI with the momentum.
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