New Zealand clobber 146 in rain-shortened T20 decider
Auckland: A flying start by Martin Guptill and Colin Munro saw New Zealand post 146 from 11 overs in the rain-shortened Twenty20 international decider against England in Auckland on Sunday.
Big-hitting Guptill was at his best as he peppered the boundary to put New Zealand in a strong position after sporadic showers delayed the start by two hours and reduced the match to a maximum 11 overs per side.
Cashing in on the short boundaries at Eden Park, Guptill hit five sixes and three fours and needed only 19 deliveries to reach his 50 before being removed by Adil Rashid one ball later.
Munro had four sixes and two fours in his 46 off 21 balls.
England won the toss and elected to field, but their bowlers were unable to make full use of the heavily overcast conditions with Guptill and Munro only needing 16 deliveries to bring up 50.
When Guptill survived a close stumping appeal from Adil Rashid at the start of the fourth over he responded by hitting the next two balls over the boundary.
New Zealand promoted big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme but he only last five deliveries before he fell to Saqib Mahmood for six to give England wickets in consecutive overs.
Tim Seifert then smacked five sixes in his 30 off 16 When Guptill and Munro were together they had the run rate up to 18.5 before it settled at 13.27 by the end of the innings.
