After a much-maligned ICC Cricket World Cup campaign, which saw England draw the ire of fans across the world, it’s fair to say the build up to this Royal London Series came very much with a collective ‘raised eyebrow’ from the stands.
However, after twenty overs at Edgbaston, it wasn’t the eyebrows that were raised. It was arms and voices raised in celebration to a cacophony of boundaries from England’s batsmen.
Devastating centuries firstly from Joe Root then Jos Buttler, a fifty for Captain Morgan and some astonishing lower-order hitting from Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett lifted England to their highest-ever ODI total, and according to New Zealand seamer Trent Boult, the hosts look like a different side to the one seen in the World Cup.
“We could definitely tell just by the way they came out with the bat, there was intent and a desire to push on the score, it was totally different to what we witnessed in Wellington,” he said.
“It was actually surprising how well they came out and looked to score, set up by some key partnerships.
“We got hit from both sides of the wicket, we overpitched it and we need to work out our death plans for some of England’s batsmen, Jos being one of them. He batted tremendously well.
“On a very good wicket it’s hard to bowl to most batsmen who are in. Joe batted very well and the partnerships kept flowing from there.”
Boult claimed four England wickets in the first innings, including their top three batsmen, but it was Matt Henry, Nathan McCullum and debutant Mitchell Santner who bore the brunt of the punishment – one wicket between them at the cost of 203 runs.
England, rejuvenated, then excelled with the ball, bowling New Zealand out inside 34 overs for 198, four wickets for Rashid and Steven Finn sealing England’s highest-ever margin for an ODI victory.
“To get bowled out inside 34 overs is not good enough,” added Boult.
“We just need to continue the stuff that we’ve been doing so well over the past 12 or 15 months. It’s building partnerships, it’s batting for time and allowing us the chance to cash in at the end of the innings and give the bowlers.
“It’s a heavy defeat, that’s for sure. We just have to take the lessons from it and get on with the rest of the series. It’s a quick turnaround.”