England vs New Zealand, 1st ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: New Zealand tour of England, 2015 Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham Date & Time: Jun 09, 02:00 PM LOCAL

Sam Billings was handed his ODI cap by David Lloyd. © Cricbuzz

Morgan hit his second six by lofting Grant Elliott over long-off in the 18th over. Root then scored a boundary each in the next three overs to enter the 80s while Morgan brought up the century stand in the 21st over with a streaky six off McLenaghan. The thick outside edge, that went over the third-man boundary, also helped England past 150. Morgan brought up his 23rd fifty with a single off Elliott in the 22nd over before Root took the aerial route, sending one over the long-off boundary to enter the 90s in the same over.

Mitchell McClenaghan finally got the breakthrough for New Zealand as he dismissed Eoin Morgan for 50. The batsman had missed the flick and was rapped on the pads. He was given out LBW but reviewed the decision straight away. Hawk-Eye, however, showed that the ball was hitting the middle stump. A big partnership of 121 runs was broken. Root then brought up his fifth ODI hundred with a couple off Matt Henry in the 24th over. He reached the three-figure mark off 71 deliveries, making it the third-fastest by an England batsman. However, Root's outing came to an end in the 25th over when he slashed at a Boult delivery and got an outside edge that was held by the keeper. Root departed on 104, giving Boult his third wicket.

After his team were thrashed by Australia in the World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was asked by a reporter if he and his team would change the aggressive brand of cricket that had taken them to their maiden tournament final, built on a stunning winning streak of ten matches.

His reply came fast, without hesitation. 'No, no, you don't change your style of play,' said McCullum with the same seriousness and conviction with which he had rolled up to every press conference during a memorable World Cup campaign. 'For us to develop into the team that we want to be in international cricket, we have to play like that. I think there's an element of fearlessness about how we play, which has been an effect on other teams, as well, and I think if you ask most of the teams in this tournament what they think of how we've played the game, they would be very respectful of how we've gone about it.

'It's what gives us our greatest pleasure, as well, and sometimes we're going to come undone, but for us to compete against the big teams on regular occasions and for us to be able to develop into the team we want to be, we need to keep playing this brand of cricket, and we'll get better at doing it the more we become accustomed to it, and I guess a stronger depth of players we develop in the same sort of mould of cricket as we have. So yeah, we're not going to change.'

That attacking, joyous brand of cricket was extended in the Test arena recently. New Zealand owned much of the first Test at Lord's by playing aggressive cricket, and it was during one such attacking passage that they let the match slip. But McCullum's men stuck to that same approach at Leeds and it earned them a 1-1 series scoreline to extend their unbeaten run further. Now, they will ditch the whites to don black, the colour they wore so passionately during the World Cup. The format in which they bossed opposing teams in the World Cup until the final, the format in which they are ranked third, the format in which they have the best chance to keep winning. England have reason to be worried. Very worried.

A run of ten unbeaten ODIs ended at the MCG on March 29, when a ruthless Australia shoved them aside for a fifth World Cup title. After two Tests against England, the Black Caps warmed up for the limited-overs leg of their tour with a 198-run hammering of Leicestershire on Friday. In that 50-over fixture, the tourists were in a spot of bother at 152 for 5 but surged to 373 without further loss through a superb partnership of 221 in just 25 overs from centurions Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi.

Elliott is, of course, the allrounder who shone during that unforgettable World Cup semi-final at Eden Park on March 24, hitting the winning runs in a nail-biting chase over South Africa to spark scenes of delirium. Elliott followed that special innings with a brisk half-century in the final, the only innings of note from a limp New Zealand display. Now, as New Zealand and England begin a five-match series with the first ODI at Birmingham on June 9 (Tuesday), the likes of Elliott - not part of the Test squad - will hope to reproduce such batting form as the Black Caps get back to their strongest suite against a team which put up its most tepid World Cup campaign ever.

From the XI that played the World Cup final at the MCG, the most likely change will be Nathan McCullum coming in for the retired Daniel Vettori. Corey Anderson's back is being closely monitored, so should he not be passed fit then the spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner could get a debut. With left-arm quick Mitchell McClenaghan joining the touring party from a successful IPL season of winners Mumbai Indians, then taking four wickets against Leicestershire, New Zealand's bowling has added zing. Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry bowled a lot of overs during the Tests and so having a fresh McClenaghan could be the way the team management tilts.

Eoin Morgan's England have lost seven of 11 ODIs this year, sitting at sixth on the ICC's list for ODI teams. The new selection panel dumped regulars James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance while resting Moeen Ali, opting to bring in some fresh faces. There are some aggressive hitters in the new squad, but how they fare against a superb New Zealand bowling attack remains to be seen. It will not be easy.

During the World Cup, McCullum's Black Caps set the bar for all ODI teams apart from Australia. If they replicate that exciting and aggressive brand across the next two weeks, they should comfortably add another ODI series and a one-off Twenty20 international to their burgeoning kitty. So sit back and get ready to enjoy the ride.

Despite the early wicket, England were off to a positive start as Joe Root and Alex Hales dealt in regular boundaries. Even the early introduction of Nathan McCullum did not have any impact as Hales and Root batted steadily to bring up the half-century stand for the second wicket in the eighth over. However, the partnership came to an end in the same over Boult struck again to send back Hales. It was a short-pitched delivery that the batsman tried to fetch from outside off to attempt a pull, but ended up top-edging it to Matt Henry to depart on 20.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and decided to bowl first. Mitchell Santner was making his debut for New Zealand. For England, Sam Billings was playing his maiden ODI game while James Taylor, David Willey and Mark Wood missed out.

England (Playing XI): Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Sam Billings, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (c), Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Mitchell Santner, Luke Ronchi (wk), Nathan McCullum, Matt Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult

New Zealand were off to a dream start after Trent Boult struck on the first ball of the game and removed Jason Roy for a duck. It was a gentle inswinger from the bowler, Roy came forward and drove it but ended up hitting it much squarer. Guptill, at point, dived forward and completed a good low catch.

Root continued positively and received good support from Eoin Morgan as they helped England forward with a steady partnership. At the end of the 10th over, England had moved to 68/2, their best score in the mandatory powerplay at home since 2011. Morgan then managed the first maximum of the match by nailing a Nathan McCullum delivery over long-off in the 12th over.

We at Cricbuzz think:

Kaushik 274Sonali 250Sriram 322Mani 298Krishna 230Ramki 245Akshay 305Sidhant 312Bharath 273Gokul 265

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