Bowling aces Zac Foulkes and Blair Tickner have emerged as unlikely heroes with the bat, as the Black Caps achieved a one-day series sweep against England in Wellington.<\/p>\n
Chasing 223 runs for victory, New Zealand were teetering at 196\/8, with all their recognised batters back in the dugout and only their tailenders carrying their hopes for victory.<\/p>\n
Foulkes and Tickner had been instrumental in their success over the opening two matches of the series, but were called on to show their batting skills and duly carried their team to a two-wicket win with 32 balls remaining.<\/p>\n
As they had in the previous two encounters of the series, the Black Caps bowlers cut through the England top order, reducing them to 44\/5, including the key scalps of icon Joe Root and in-form skipper Harry Brooks.<\/p>\n
Newball bowlers Jacob Duffy and Foulkes did most of the early damage.<\/p>\n
Wicketkeeper Jos Buttler and allrounder Sam Curran stalled the onslaught with a 53-run stand, but Tickner removed both in consecutive overs to resume normal transmission.<\/p>\n
England had not made it past the 36th over at both Mt Maunganui and Hamilton, and looked in grave danger of leaving more overs out on the field again.<\/p>\n
Allrounders Jamie Overton and Brydon Carse threatened to drag them to respectability, putting on 58 runs at better than a run a ball, before Tickner struck again to remove Carse, caught by Daryl Mitchell.<\/p>\n
The tourists outdid themselves by reaching the 41st over. After Carse’s demise, Overton continued to bring up a half century, but was the last to fall for 68, when he was caught by Will Young, off captain Mitch Santner.<\/p>\n
Tickner finished with 4\/64 off his 10 overs, while Duffy collected 3\/56 of his allotment.<\/p>\n
In response, NZ openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway safely negotiated a torrid examination from Jofra Archer and Carse, surviving the powerplay with 64 runs on the board.<\/p>\n
Conway was unluckily caught out of his crease, when Overton deflected a straight drive from Ravindra onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, before Ravindra (46) was clean bowled by Curran.<\/p>\n
Young was the third wicket in as many overs and – in identical circumstances to Conway – Tom Latham became another runout victim, as the NZ innings experienced speed wobbles.<\/p>\n
Mitchell and allrounder Michael Bracewell set about rebuilding the innings, but the latter was caught in the outfielder and Santner emerged to restore some momentum to their chase.<\/p>\n
He hit two towering sixes, before skying a catch off Carse, and suddenly, Mitchell was running out of batting partners.<\/p>\n
After guiding his team home in the opening two matches of the series, he eventually succumbed, edging to the keeper for 44, with 27 runs still needed for victory.<\/p>\n
Foulkes and Tickner offered little confidence that the Kiwis would complete the job, but they batted intelligently, nibbling away at the required target. Tickner (18no) was duly named Man of the Match, but Fowlkes (14no) hit a pair of boundaries – including the winning runs – that carried the Black Caps clear.<\/p>\n
They now regroup for a five-match Twenty20 series against West Indies, starting Wednesday at Auckland’s Eden Park.<\/p>\n