Following a loss of 181 runs against England in the third one-day international match on Wednesday, New Zealand captain Tom Latham said that they were completely "outplayed".
A record-breaking knock by Ben Stokes coupled with solid performances by bowlers guided an all-round England to a 181-run win over New Zealand in the third ODI of the four-match series at The Oval. In the post-match presentation, Latham praised Stokes and Dawid Malan as thier partnership of 199 took the game away from Kiwis. "The way Stokesy and Dawid played. Played outstanding - both of them. Halfway mark we thought we pulled it nicely towards the last 10-15 overs. Knew we had to bat well. But 40/4, it's hard from there. The way they bowled in the top 10 overs, getting movement in the air and off the surface. We weren't able to build partnerships. Wouldn't say it's concerning (other bowlers apart from Boult). Have to see what we can do better when our backs are up against the wall. Thoroughly outplayed today," Latham said. Coming to the match, England was put to bat first by the Kiwis and were struggling at 13/2 when Stokes came out. He had a 199-run partnership for the third wicket with Dawid Malan (96 in 95 balls, 12 fours and a six) and a 78-run stand for the fourth wicket with skipper Jos Buttler (38 in 24 balls, six fours and a six), which took England to 368 in 48.1 overs despite a lower-order collapse. Trent Boult (5/51) and Ben Lister (3/69) were the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis. In the chase of 339, Kiwis were rocked by the pace trio of Chris Woakes, Reece Topley and Sam Curran and were struggling at 70/5. Glenn Phillips (72 in 76 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Rachin Ravindra (28 in 22 balls, five fours) tried fighting back but NZ was bundled out for 187 in just 39 overs. Woakes (3/31) and Livingstone (3/16) were the pick of the bowlers for NZ. Topley took two, Curran and Moeen Ali got one each. Stokes took home the 'Player of the Match' award. England is leading the series 2-1 with a match to go. (ANI)
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