Live cricket scores of New Zealand vs England, 3rd ODI in Wellington

Ben Stokes was in fine form in the second game © Getty

MASSIVE TURN!

Sodhi bowled a ripper of a leg-break that pitch outside the line of leg-stump and beat Buttler's outside edge. Was it sort of similar to Warne bamboozling Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993? I would think so. Buttler was turned inside out. Rashid won't mind bowling on this track either.

Southee breaks through

The duo of Stokes and Morgan pinched singles and twos with the occasion boundary to stitch a stand of 71 before the latter tried to steer one through third man and was castled by Southee. Just when the pair was looking to up the ante, England lose their captain.

Landmark

Eoin Morgan made his ODI debut way back in 2006 for Ireland versus Scotland. From a talented batsman, he has grown in his role to be the captain of his adopted country - England.

The eye-catching batsman reached 6000 ODI runs during the third ODI versus New Zealand. He also has 11 ODI hundreds to his name so far. Fine achievement indeed.

The de Grandhomme show

On a slow track, de Grandhomme bowled stump to stump to tie down the English batsmen. Stokes, the England talisman, could only eke out 6 off his first 30 deliveries! Eventually, Morgan added some impetus by slog sweeping Sodhi for a six.

Slide continues

England continued to slide as Bairstow was castled by Sodhi. Nice piece of bowling from the spinner, as he tossed it up, invited the drive and sneaked past the gap between bat and pad. It was the googly from Sodhi.

Bairstow's struggle at the crease ends. It hasn't been a good tour so far for him.

Root perishes

Unfortunately for England, Root tried one shot too many and perished. He skipped down the track but could only slog it to Sodhi at mid on. He is disappointed as he looked in good nick but has thrown his wicket away. Crucial wicket picked up by de Grandhomme.

Fluffed chance

Joe Root offered a tough chance to Williamson at midwicket who dived to his right but couldn't hold onto it. Maybe he was a tad late to pick it up. Root then reverse lapped and swept Santner to pick up a couple of fours. He is looking good in tricky conditions for batting. Class act.

Discipline and reward

Boult got one to kick off a length and despite Roy taking his bottom hand off the handle, he could only edge it to Guptill at first slip. The ball perhaps took a piece off the surface. Not great signs, I must say.

Good discipline shown by the Kiwi pacers.

Cautious

Barring the occasional pull and drive from Roy, England's openers weren't able to get their side off to a flying start. Southee and Boult have bowled well so far. The pitch is also holding up a tad, making it difficult for batsmen to play on the up.

Toss

New Zealand won the toss and not surprisingly opted to bowl. Williamson returned to the side, while Taylor missed out due to an injury. Meanwhile, Mark Wood, the fast bowler, is back in the England set-up.

Teams:

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran, Mark Wood

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Mark Chapman, Tom Latham(w), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

Build up

England put up a clinical show in the second ODI in Bay Oval to seal a six-wicket win and level the series versus New Zealand 1-1. The tourists were exceptional in the field. England would also be pleased with Ben Stokes, their talisman, showing his wares. The all-rounder picked up two wickets, cracked a fifty and also effected a run-out or two to make a huge impact.

New Zealand, on the other hand, would be hoping for the captain Williamson to regain his fitness. To make matters worse, Taylor too is struggling with fitness issues. New Zealand's batting line-up - barring Latham and Taylor - has struggled to make its presence felt and that would worry the think-tank.

Toss and teams in a while...