England’s top-order struggles continued ahead of the Ashes during a two-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the third one-day international, as the hosts completed a series sweep in Wellington.
The tourists slumped to 44-4 and 102-7 after losing the toss and batting first at the Sky Stadium, with England’s top four of Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell combining for just 21 runs.
Jamie Overton posted his maiden ODI half-century and finished England top scorer for a second successive match, scoring 68 from 62 balls, with Jos Buttler (38) and Brydon Carse (30) offering late support before they were eventually dismissed in the 41st over.
Jamie Overton helped England fight back after their nightmare start
New Zealand appeared in control of the chase until openers Devon Conway (34) and Rachin Ravindra (46) fell in successive overs, with the hosts slipping from 78-0 to 149-5 before Daryl Mitchell and Mitch Santner pushed them closer to their target.
Three quick wickets left New Zealand eight down and still requiring 27 runs, but Zak Foulkes (14) and Blair Tickner (18) closed out victory – with 32 balls to spare – to secure a 3-0 series victory.
England’s top order fails to deliver
Smith (five) continued his poor series by edging behind to Foulkes, who also trapped Root (two) LBW, with Duckett (eight) top-edging Duffy to mid-off as England’s top-order fragility continued.
Brook (six) edged to Bracewell at second slip off Duffy, who also saw Bethell (11) edge behind to leave England in disarray at 44-5 just after the 10-over powerplay, with Sam Curran and Buttler stabilising with a 53-run stand before both were bowled by Tickner.
Carse fired four sixes in his positive 30-ball innings and 58-run partnership with Overton, which ended when Mitchell took a good catch in the covers off Tickner, with Archer (13) dismissed by the same bowler to reduce England to 184-9.
Overton – not available for the Ashes after ruling himself out of consideration – reached his half-century with consecutive boundaries off Tickner and took control of the strike, with 10 fours and two sixes in his innings that ended when he picked out Young in the covers.
It was the third time in the three-match series what England were bowled out considerably inside 50 overs, which will be a concern just weeks out from the first Test against Australia in Perth on November 21.
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