England v New Zealand: Hosts comfortably win first T20 by seven wickets

England comprehensively thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets with a professional performance in the first T20 of their four-match series at Chester-le-Street.

Jonny Bairstow nicked the second ball of the chase to slip but Dawid Malan made a composed 54 from 42 balls.

The left-hander fell with 24 needed from 48 but Harry Brook struck an unbeaten 27-ball 43 to take England home – two towering sixes reinforcing the surprise at his omission from England’s provisional squad for their 50-over World Cup defence in India this autumn.

A professional bowling performance from England set up the win by restricting New Zealand to 139-9.

Luke Wood was hit for three sixes in the first over but recovered to take 3-37, while pace bowler Brydon Carse claimed an impressive 3-23 on his T20 debut at his home ground – the tourists never able to get going after their fast start.

The series continues on Friday in Manchester.

England start well on road to India

Although a different format, this series is played against the backdrop of England’s World Cup defence beginning in five weeks – a tournament that starts with a rematch of the epic 2019 final against New Zealand.

England have not played short-form cricket since March but there was little sign of rust on their return – something that cannot be said for the Black Caps.

Captain Jos Buttler has spoken of his desire to experiment in the T20 leg – eight 50-over matches against the Kiwis and Ireland will be used to fine-tune for the World Cup – and two bowlers not part of the squad for India took the most credit.

Wood and Carse adapted to conditions on a slow pitch and kept New Zealand to a score well below par. Malan, one of those travelling to the World Cup, then built after taking only three from his first nine balls in an innings that will give him confidence at the start of a big three months.

Brook was by far the most fluent batter amid further England experimentation later, with Buttler dropping himself down the order from his usual place as a T20 opener – Will Jacks taking his place and scoring 22 from 12.

Liam Livingstone was pushed ahead of Buttler to number five and he finished the game emphatically by pulling a mighty six into the crowd.

Tougher tests will come, New Zealand were ragged with bat and ball, but this was an encouraging start for England.

Wood & Carse impress

When Finn Allen pumped Wood over mid-off before thrashing the left-armer twice over the leg side, a score well in excess of 160 looked likely.

But, having dragged their length back in the absence of new-ball swing, Wood nicked one off classy opener Devon Conway for three from eight balls as the turnaround began.

The tall and pacy Carse bowled well, hitting a hard length. He conceded one from his first over and bowled Allen in his second – the opener hitting 18 from his first five balls but only three from his next 10.

Wood mixed his pace effectively. He bowled Tim Seifert with a slower ball for nine and had Glenn Phillips – the only New Zealand batter to threaten with 41 from 38 – taken at long-off with another cutter. It was a wicket that ended any hopes of a big finish for New Zealand.

In the final over, Carse then bowled Adam Milne with another length ball before Ish Sodhi skied him to Sam Curran in the deep.

In between Wood and Carse’s bursts, Moeen Ali, Livingstone and Adil Rashid – England’s three spinners who will have a large role to play in India – took a wicket apiece.

‘No-one saying Brook is not a superstar’ – reaction

Player of the match, Brydon Carse: “Obviously a great start to my T20 career, awesome to play in front of my home crowd here at Durham and put a good performance in for the team.

“I just try to keep to my strengths, try to hit the top of the stumps and it paid off, picking up that crucial wicket at that time.”

England captain Jos Buttler, speaking to BBC Test Match Special: “[Harry Brook] is a class player. No-one is saying they don’t rate him or think he is a superstar. He has been a key part of the T20 side for the best part of a year and will be a key part for the next 10 years.”

On whether there will be further experimentation in the rest of the series: “We want to find out a little bit about people and give [Surrey fast bowler] Gus Atkinson his chance. That will be exciting. We will manage it but we do want to win the game and the series.”

New Zealand captain Tim Southee on Sky Sports: “It was no doubt not our best effort, but we’ve got a couple of days to turn it around.

“The way they took early wickets stalls any momentum but our assessment of the wicket was probably a bit off, and with the ball we just had to try and take as many wickets as we could.”