New Zealand 5-231 (Martin Guptill 103*, Ross Taylor 54, James Anderson 3-31) beat England 9-227 (Jonathan Trott 37, Chris Woakes 36, Tim Southee 3-37) by five wickets.
A masterly unbeaten hundred from Martin Guptill led his side to a tremendous victory against their strong opponents England in the first ODI of the series.
England scored 227 runs after losing 9 wickets at the end of the measured 50th over. New Zealand hammered 231 with half of their side back in the dressing room and 19 balls to spare.
Martin Guptill (New Zealand) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his match winning unbeaten 103 runs while opening the innings.
The first One Day International of the three match series was held at Lord’s, London.
Earlier, the captain of Black Caps, Brendon McCullum, won the toss and invited the home side to bat first. The English skipper, Alastair Cook, along with Ian Bell opened the innings and scored 37 runs in the first 9 overs with 5 fours. Cook hit two consecutive fours in the next over and the score was pushed to 45 when Ian Bell was caught behind by the debutant wicket keeper for New Zealand, Luke Ronchi, off Tim Southee for 18. Cook followed him in an identical fashion after the addition of five runs for 30 off 45 balls with 5 fours as Jonathan Trott and Joe Root took the responsibility of scoring.
The Kiwi bowlers got back their rhythm and the two batsmen hit just one boundary each until the end of the 21st over. The score went past the hundred runs mark in the 25th over and the third wicket fell at 117 in 26.4 overs when Joe Root was clean bowled by Nathan McCullum for 30. Trott left the field seven runs later for 37 off 53 with 3 fours as a couple of wickets fell quickly and England was struggling at 5-126 in 29.2 overs. Chris Woakes and Tim Bresnan enhanced the score by contributing 36 and 25 runs respectively as the hosts reached 9-227 in 50 overs.
Tim Southee was the superior bowler with three wickets, Mitchell McClenaghan and Nathan McCullum held two each whereas Kyle Mills and Kane Williamson claimed one wicket each.
The Black Caps lost their two top order batsmen for just one run as James Anderson struck twice in the very first over. The experienced Ross Taylor joined in with Martin Guptill in a difficult situation and the first hit 3 fours in the coming overs. Guptill got his first boundary in the fifth over and added another 11 runs five overs later with 1 six and 1 four. Taylor continued with his attack but Martin Guptill was the first to reach his fifty in the 23rd over with 2 fours. Taylor attained his 22nd ODI half century in the 25th over with a four and the score was taken to 121 in 25.2 overs. Ross Taylor was caught behind by Jos Buttler off Anderson for 54 off 77 deliveries with 9 fours and was replaced by Grant Elliott.
Guptill kept on cruising as Elliott survived a review for a leg before wicket at 14 in the 33rd over. The fourth wicket partnership was broken at 168 after 37.1 overs as the stumps of Grant Elliott were dislodged by Graeme Swann for 27. Brendon McCullum became the next victim at 185 for just five runs as the visitors still required 41 runs to win the game in 54 balls. James Franklin appeared on the scene next and hit one four followed by one six from the set batsman, Martin Guptill. Franklin kept on securing his end as Guptill dispatched the winning four on the fifth delivery of the 47th over. Martin Guptill stood firm at his side with 103 off 123 comprising 4 mighty sixes and 8 fours. James Franklin was at the other end for 16 as the visitors piled up 231 with five wickets intact.
James Anderson was the supreme bowler with three wickets whereas Jade Dernbach and Graeme Swann shared one wicket each.
New Zealand won the first One Day International with a sufficient margin of five wickets and leads the three match series 1-0. The second ODI will be played at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, on June 5, 2013.
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