The second of four T10i matches between England and New Zealand took place on 1 September 2023, below are the highlights from Sky Sports Cricket and the ECB.
Sky Sports highlights
ECB Highlights
Conclusions
After batting second to win impressively in the first T20i, England showed they could bat first and, after a slowish start on a tricky Old Trafford wicket, put the accelerator down hard in the middle overs, through Bairstow and Brook, who both made good scores.
Bairstow had started slowly on what looked a tricky wicket, before he was joined by Brook, who once again looked to be seeing the ball and timing it well – the only shot he failed to get away was the ramp – and seemed to inspire his fellow Yorkshireman to join the party.
They fairly smashed the ball to all corners, to set a way better than par total, which New Zealand proved unable to match, with Gus Atkinson making best-ever-debut figures for England, bowling straight and at a pace of over 90mph with his uncomplicated action. He looks like a more than adequate bowling option for England and probably could eek out a couple of extra MPH in future too, as he has a smooth action off a short runup.
Certainly Atkinson proved destructive to batters facing a lot of scoreboard pressure. England’s spinners also did well on a somewhat two-paced track, as every time NZ tried to pick up the pace, the ball went straight to England hands, giving England a huge margin of victory on the day.
