James Anderson shocked New Zealand and Joe Roots lifted England – 2nd ODI

2-270 (Joe Root 79*, Alastair Cook 78, Kane Williamson 1-39) beat New Zealand 269 (Ross Taylor 100, Brendon McCullum 74, James Anderson 5-34) by eight wickets.

James Anderson displayed a wonderful bowling spell by grabbing half of the New Zealand side and Joe Root blasted at the rival bowling as England beat the hosts.

New Zealand managed 269 runs in the allocated 50 overs with the assistance of a brilliant ton from Ross Taylor as England piled up 270 for the loss of just two wickets and 14 balls to spare.

The second One Day International of the three match series was played on Thursday, February 20, 2013, at McLean Park, Napier.

Earlier, Alastair Cook, the captain of England, won the toss and opted to field first with a vision to restrict the Black Caps within a limited total. The decision proved fruitful when Anderson got rid of both openers, BJ Watling and Hamish Rutherford, at 19 within 9 overs. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor got together and steadied the innings by a watchful partnership. The first 16 overs produced just 41 runs as Taylor hit a couple of fours in the next over and Williamson got his first four on the 39^th ball he faced. They took the score to 91 in 25.4 overs when Kane Williamson was clean bowled by Chris Woakes for 33 runs.

Grant Elliott walked in next as Taylor completed his fifty on the fifth ball of the 33^rd over with a single. Taylor hit the first six of the innings in the 34^th over as Elliott became the next victim for 23 and was replaced by the skipper, Brendon McCullum. The latter looked in a dangerous mood and was sending the ball out of the ropes frequently. The duo added 17 runs in the 41^st over with 1 six and 2 fours as McCullum punished Woakes in the next over with 20 runs that included 1 six and 3 fours. He continued with his onslaught while dispatching another 16 runs in the following over with 1 six and 2 fours and also completed his 24^th ODI half century.

Brendon McCullum was finally caught by Woakes at long-on off Stuart Broad for 74 from 36 mere balls with 4 gigantic sixes and 9 fours. Ross Taylor smashed his seventh ODI hundred on the last delivery of the 48^th over and was gone for exactly 100 runs off 117 with 1 six and 9 fours. The entire Kiwis side was dismissed for 269 runs with 7 balls still to be bowled.

James Anderson was the star performer with five wickets, Chris Woakes held three whereas Steven Finn and Stuart Broad shared one wicket each.

England started off nicely with Alastair Cook along with Ian Bell as the first hit 3 fours in the first three overs. Bell added 2 fours in the eighth over followed by the same result in the 10^th over. The first wicket accomplished 89 runs in 19.5 overs as Bell was caught by Rutherford at square leg off Williamson for 44 and was replaced by Jonathan Trott. Cook attained his 16^th ODI fifty in the 24^th over and was caught and bowled by Tim Southee for 78 off 92 balls with 1 six and 7 fours as the total touched 149 in 31.5 overs.

The visitors required another 121 runs from the last 18.1 overs as Joe Root took guards at the crease. Root tasted his first four on the 19^th ball he received and was picking up the boundaries at regular intervals afterwards. He powered his third ODI half century on the 37^th delivery of his innings as Trott scored his 20^th half century on the first ball of the 44^th over. The pair added 14 runs in the 46^th over with 3 fours as the target was achieved on the fourth ball of the 48^th over by thrashing 270 runs. Joe Root remained unbeaten 79 off just 56 balls with 2 sixes and 7 fours as Jonathan Trott secured his end by posting 65 from 73 with 3 fours.

England won the second One Day International by a big margin of eight wickets and levelled the three match series 1-1. The third and final game of the series will be played on February 23, 2013, at Eden Park, Auckland and both teams will fight hard to win that match to clinch the series.