ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND

At Birmingham, June 15. New Zealand won by two wickets. Such a result seemed unlikely when England, early in the day, were making a confident start, but the pitch was not entirely consistent in bounce and an experiment with Botham at No. 3 proved unsuccessful. Only Gower, with an immaculate 92 not out from 96 balls, contributed much after an opening stand of 63 between Fowler and Tavaré, and he could not stop the loss of the last three wickets for 1 run with 4.4 overs unused. England's score seemed adequate when Willis removed Turner and Edgar with only 3 runs scored, and at 75 for four New Zealand were still fighting an uphill battle. But while Coney held one end, his partners, especially Hadlee, gave him support which kept New Zealand close to the required scoring-rate. With two wickets left, they needed 4 runs off the last over, or 3 if they still had a wicket intact. Off the fifth ball, with the scores level, Bracewell struck a 4 to settle the issue.

Man of the Match: J. V. Coney.