Zak Foulkes, Blair Tickner ice nervy chase as Black Caps sweep England 3-0 in ODI series

Saturday, 1 November 2025

At Sky Stadium, Wellington: England 222 all out in 40.2 overs (Jamie Overton 68 off 62, Jos Buttler 38 off 56, Brydon Carse 36 off 30; Blair Tickner 4-64 off 10, Jacob Duffy 3-56 off 10, Zak Foulkes 2-27 off 8) lost to Black Caps 226-8 in 44.4overs (Rachin Ravindra 46 off 37, Daryl Mitchell 44 off 68, Devon Conway 34 off 44; Jamie Overton 2-32 off 10, Sam Curran 2-) by 2 wickets.

Excuse yourself for thinking you had seen this movie not once, but twice before, in the past week. Only this one came with a surprise twist in the tail.

Copy and paste, and copy and paste again, it seemed, as the Black Caps yet again skittled England’s top order, then Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner looked set to ice a nervy chase, in the third and final match of the ODI series in Wellington on Saturday.

Hold fire, for a moment, though, as while a 3-0 sweep was indeed achieved, it was instead tail-enders Zak Foulkes (14no) and Blair Tickner (18no) who were the heroes at the end for New Zealand, in a match-winning 30-run ninth-wicket partnership to see them to their target of 223.

In what was the first ODI at Sky Stadium since February 2019, the Black Caps’ nailbiting two-wicket victory ended a four-game, nearly 10-year losing run in the format at the venue, dating back to the 2015 World Cup.

And, goodness were there some similarities to a couple of matches at that memorable tournament, after the Black Caps bowlers produced their best Tim Southee demolition job on the English, then Santner did a Martin Guptill (quarterfinal against the West Indies) by smoking a monster 103-metre six to join the elite Cake Tin roof-hitting club.

Again coming in with the modest-total chase in the balance (the Black Caps 147-5 and needing 76, at less than four an over), Santner’s quickfire 27 off 29 tipped the momentum the hosts’ way, before the late drama, in an innings which had already featured two freakish runouts.

With Kane Williamson sitting out due to a groin niggle, Devon Conway (34) formed an all-Wellington opening pair with Rachin Ravindra (46), and the duo indeed looked right at home in a 78-run stand that was only ended in unfortunate fashion when Conway, not long after being fortunate not to be run-out after not sliding his bat, was then caught short by a deflection at the bowler’s end.

When Ravindra then four balls later had his poles rocked by a jagging-back Sam Curran ball, and Will Young (1) pulled and skied his third delivery, it was game back on at 92-3, before Tom Latham (10) then ridiculously suffered the same fate as Conway with another crazy ricochet at the non-striker’s.

Michael Bracewell (13) could have added to the carnage when his bat got stuck in the turf, but as it was he added just two more runs before perishing in slog-sweeping the first ball of spin, from Adil Rashid, in the 30th over.

That brought Santner together with Mitchell, three days after their unbeaten 59-run match-sealing stand at Seddon Park, and six days following their important 49-run partnership en route to victory in Mt Maunganui.

But just as Santner was looking lethal, a mis-timed pull had him fall with 35 runs still to get, before Nathan Smith (2) was cleaned up by Jamie Overton (the pick of the bowlers with 2-32 off 10) and then Curran had the big scalp of Mitchell (44), nicking behind, to turn the game on its head.

With 27 still to get, it left Foulkes and Tickner (who has not been past 24 in List A cricket) to try end nudge ever closer to the target, and with the nerve-jangling crowd, and no doubt No 11 Jacob Duffy, too, applauding every single, they were then out of their seats with Tickner stroking a handsome four through cover off Rashid, and next over somehow top-edging Curran to the boundary.

When Foulkes swept Rashid hard to the fence it left the Black Caps within one shot of victory, then next over Tickner, fresh off a second successive four-for with the ball and later awarded a second-straight man-of-the-match honour, ramped Curran over slip for two, then mis-timed a pull over Curran’s head, before Foulkes glanced for four to seal it.

Earlier on, it had been the same old story, after Santner won a third straight toss and again inserted the No 8 world-ranked English, who again crumbled, to a miserable 17-3 and 44-5.

Coached by Brendon McCullum and with an all-out attack philosophy, they again had no answer to quality New Zealand swing and seam bowling, after being sent in for the third time in the series, on a surface offering plenty of sideways movement.

Foulkes (2-27 off 8) and Jacob Duffy (3-56 off 10) were again fantastic with the new balls, absolutely unplayable at times with their beautiful shape, with the tourists’ top order guilty of some pretty ordinary option-taking, and again a real unwillingness to try and tough things out.

Captain Harry Brook had promoted himself a spot to No 4, but after he fell cheaply it meant England held a new record for the lowest-ever cumulative total of top-four batters by a team in an ODI series, their 84 from 12 innings beating Bangladesh’s 89 from the Asia Cup in 1988.

Despite the top-order carnage, the usual fight back came, however Tickner picked up where he left off from his man-of-the-match career-best (both ODI and List A) showing in Hamilton (4-34) on return from two-and-a-half years out of the international game, by powering through the lower order to capture 4-64 off 10, including the ball of the day, that seamed back to knock the off-stump of Buttler (38) out of the ground.

At 102-7 it then had the potential to be a rather early finish, but for Brydon Carse’s hard-hit 36 off 30, and a well-made 68 off 62 by Overton, one man who can hold his head high from this series, who made batting look a rather easier task from No 8, once the Kookaburra had stopped swinging.

Having made 46 and 42 in the first games, the strapping right-hander proved excellent square of the wicket on both sides in raising a maiden List A half century, until he skied Santner straight up to see the innings closed in 40.2 overs, England at least managing to go further than the 35.2 and 36 overs they had folded in in the first two games.

While England now get set to head across the ditch for the Ashes, starting in three weeks’ time, the Black Caps will prepare for a full-format tour by the West Indies, with the opening T20 at Eden Park next Wednesday night.