A dramatic Super Over repeat between New Zealand and England

Aside from World T20s, Asia Cups or Tri-series tournaments, we have rarely seen five-match T20I series in cricket. So, when England and New Zealand set about playing one, it was deemed to be a preparation for the T20 World Cup next year. The series remained at 2-2 going into the final T20I and the series decider drew comparisons with the ODI World Cup 2019 final that these two teams played out. As though to show there was unfinished business from that World Cup final, with the ICC laws and umpiring errors playing damp squib, England and New Zealand played out another Super Over!

Read: England snatch T20 series in super over finish against New Zealand

Now, sit back and read that again. The very same teams which played out a humdinger of a tie in the World Cup finals play an ultra-rare five-match T20I series and the decider is another tied game, eerily similar to the World Cup finals. It was as though God wanted to intervene and give the teams a chance at redemption.

As would happen, England scored two runs more than what they did in the Super Over in the World Cup finals. Then, they had made 15 runs, which New Zealand ultimately levelled, but still lost due to the boundary countback rule.

England opened with Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan and New Zealand skipper Tim Southee leaked two sixes in a 17-run over. It was still deemed gettable on a flat track with short boundaries. New Zealand would have even backed themselves to go for it with Jofra Archer – the man who stopped them in the World Cup finals – absent.

Chris Jordan took up bowling duties for England while New Zealand, as though to not jinx, sent out Tim Seifert, who didn’t play that final, alongside Martin Guptill. Surprisingly, Guptill didn’t take strike, a decision that might eventually have cost New Zealand the game.

Seifert was dismissed off the fourth ball after making just 6 runs, leaving new man Colin de Grandhomme and Guptill with a near-impossible task. England sealed the win, much like they did in the World Cup a few months back, but this was a more convincing victory for the Poms.

Read: Boundary countback scrapped as Super Over rules changed

Tied matches are common in New Zealand. In fact, in T20Is, no country has witnessed more tied games than New Zealand.

While no other country has over two tied games, New Zealand have four tied T20Is in their country. Interestingly, three of the four tied games were at Auckland. The first of it came in 2006 when West Indies and New Zealand played out a tie in Auckland. Two years later, the very same teams played out another tie at the very same venue. If New Zealand won the bowl-out on the first occasion, West Indies won the one-over eliminator (now called the Super Over) the next time.

In 2010, Australia and New Zealand played out a third tie in the country, this time at Christchurch. It took a further nine years for another tied game in New Zealand, but when it came it was a rip-roaring one with England and New Zealand doing a repeat of their World Cup final Super Over act.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Michael Bradley