New Delhi:
Dawid Malan created history and he entered a very special club for batsmen in Twenty20 Internationals during the clash against New Zealand at McLean Park in Napier. Malan samshed 103* and shared a world record 182-run stand for the third wicket with Eoin Morgan who finished with 91 as England ended on 241/3. Malan became the second England player after Alex Hales to hit a century in this format. Hales had smashed 116 in the Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka during the 2014 World T20 clash at Chattogram. The 182-run stand for the third wicket is also the highest in Twenty20 Internationals, breaking the previous record of 156 set by Hales and Morgan during the same game in 2014 against Sri Lanka. He notched up his century off just 48 balls, making him the fastest England player to reach the milestone.
England were inserted into bat and they lost Jonny Bairstow cheaply but Tom Banton showed glimpses of his talent by smashing Tim Southee for two boundaries. Banton continued to target Southee when he hammered two fours and a six off the New Zealand skipper but in the quest for aggression, he was LBW to Mitchell Santner for 31. From that point on, it was the Morgan and Malan show and New Zealand felt the wrath.
Morgan got going by pulling Ish Sodhi for a six and Malan received a boost by smashing Blair Tickner for two fours and a six as England reached 88/2 in 10 overs. The carnage continued with Malan launching Santner for a six and a four with Morgan following suit with another six as 20 runs came off New Zealand's best bowler. Malan notched up his second consecutive fifty by smashing a four off Southee to deep extra cover.
The left-hander celebrated the landmark with three further fours off Southee in the same over as New Zealand leaked runs. Both Malan and Morgan continued to go berserk and in the 17th over, Malan was at his destructive best as he smashed three sixes and two fours to smash 28 runs to move closer to his century. Malan entered the 90s with a six off Trent Boult and notched up his maiden century off just 48 balls with another six. Morgan also looked good for his century as he smashed three sixes and a four off Daryl Mitchell to help England reach their highest total in Twenty20 Internationals.
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Morgan, having smashed the fastest fifty by an England player off 21 balls, entered the 90s with another six off Southee but fell for 91 but England have given themselves a great chance of levelling the five-match series. New Zealand currently lead the series 2-1 with one more match to play after this in Auckland.
