Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook heroics help England hammer New Zealand
Bairstow cracked an unbeaten 86 and Brook made a rapid 67 in a 95-run win in the second T20 international
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Your support makes all the difference.Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook led the charge as England powered to a 95-run victory over New Zealand in the second Vitality International T20 match at Old Trafford on Friday.
Bairstow cracked an unbeaten 86 and Brook made a rapid 67 as England posted a formidable 198-4 from their 20 overs.
Debutant Gus Atkinson then took a superb f4-20 as the Kiwis slumped to 103 all out in a dismal reply.
The victory gave England a 2-0 lead in the four-match series coming after a similarly comfortable win in the opening game at Durham on Wednesday.
The platform was laid by Bairstow and Brook as the pair put on 131 for the third wicket in a blistering 65 balls.
Bairstow batted throughout the innings, hitting eight fours and four sixes from 60 deliveries while Brook, making another point following his World Cup omission, smashed five maximums in his 36-ball 67.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee bore the brunt of their big-hitting, conceding 23 in one over on his way to figures of 1-48.
Bairstow actually had a nervy start as he played and missed, survived a leg before appeal and scampered a tight single in a good first over from the lively Adam Milne.
Yet he was soon into his stride, driving Southee over the top in the next and following up with further boundaries off Milne and Mitchell Santner.
Will Jacks also attacked and hit two fours and a six in one Lockie Ferguson over but he fell for 19 when he miscued a pull off Southee to midwicket. Dawid Malan quickly followed for a duck as he was bowled by Santner.
That brought Bairstow and Brook together and the Yorkshire duo went on the offensive.
Bairstow slog-swept Santner for six and Brook smashed two straight maximums off Ish Sodhi. Bairstow then brought up his half-century in 40 balls with successive fours off Santner before the acceleration really began with 23 from one Southee over.
The boundaries kept coming and Brook reached a 31-ball 50 in another expensive Southee over in which he hit two sixes and a four.
The entertaining partnership eventually ended when Brook, after slog-sweeping Sodhi for another four, holed out to Finn Allen at long-on.
Moeen Ali despatched his first ball off Sodhi over the legside boundary but then found Milne in the deep attempting the same shot.
Bairstow saw little of the strike in the closing overs as Milne, particularly, brought some discipline back to the attack but Jos Buttler took the hosts close to 200 with 13 from eight balls.
New Zealand’s reply got off to a bad start as Devon Conway chipped to Liam Livingstone at deep square leg to hand Atkinson his first international wicket in the second over.
They slipped to eight for two as Allen miscued a pull off Sam Curran and was comfortably taken by Jacks.
Glenn Phillips began a recovery but Adil Rashid had him caught on the boundary by Brook for 22 and Mark Chapman, after launching Liam Livingstone for a straight six, then picked out the same fielder.
Daryl Mitchell was caught behind off Brydon Carse, Santner clean bowled by Jacks and Milne reversed swept Rashid into the hands of Ali at slip.
Tim Seifert offered the greatest resistance but he fell for 39 when he sliced Atkinson high into the air and Buttler claimed a steepling catch. Southee and Ferguson then fell in the same Atkinson over as the Surrey seamer wrapped the game in style.
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