New Zealand 24-17 England: Late All Blacks comeback seals Test series win

By Sports Desk July 13, 2024

England narrowly missed out on inflicting New Zealand's first defeat at Eden Park in 30 years as the All Blacks came from behind to win 24-17 on Saturday.

The victory was secured by Damian McKenzie's penalty five minutes from the end, with New Zealand also sealing the 2-0 Test series win.

Mark Tele'a was the star for the All Blacks as he scored a try in both halves, pouncing on an England mistake for his first.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso responded just moments later, after latching onto Marcus Smith's cross-field kick, with the latter then setting Tommy Freeman up in the same way to see England take a one-point lead into half-time.

They then opened up a four-point gap with a penalty, but New Zealand found their fight, with Beaumont Barrett wonderfully bursting in behind to set Tele'a up for his second.

England were denied the chance to cross for a late try, which could have set up a 24-24 draw with the conversion, but a television match official referral saw them penalised inches from the line.

"In the second half we were not as accurate as we wanted to be, we gave away a few too many penalties and gave them easy points and territory," Maro Itoje told Sky Sports after the game. 

"When you are playing a good team, you cannot really do that. We gave their backfield opportunities to run it back at us. Beauden Barrett and the rest are good players, so we don't want to give them opportunities, but we live and we learn.

"It is tough, but I think we showed some improvements in the way we play the game, but at the end of the day it just wasn't good enough today.

"We are at the start of the journey, we are a young team, and we can only get better for these experiences."

Data Debrief: All Blacks hot streak stays alive

New Zealand are now unbeaten across their last 49 Test matches at Eden Park (W47 D2), with their last loss in the city of Auckland coming against France in 1994.

Meanwhile, England have won just two of their last nine Test matches away from home (L7, excluding neutral venues) after winning three in a row previously. However, each of their last four losses outside of England have come by margins of fewer than 10 points.

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    West Indies white-ball coach Darren Sammy was both encouraged and frustrated after his team’s five-wicket loss to England in the second ODI in North Sound, Antigua, on Saturday.

    Despite a standout batting performance that saw West Indies post a formidable 328-6, Sammy believes missed opportunities in the bowling department ultimately handed England the edge. England chased down the total with relative ease, finishing on 329-5 with captain Liam Livingstone’s masterful unbeaten 124 leading the way.

    “It is tough. Obviously, when you put 328 on the board, you expect to win. However, that is the beauty of international cricket; at the halfway stage, when one aspect of the job is done, you can never be complacent about it. Yes, Liam Livingstone played a brilliant innings to get his team home, but I thought as a bowling group our execution was really off, hence we lost a record chase here in Antigua,” Sammy said in a post-game interview.

    While disappointed with the loss, Sammy found reasons for optimism, particularly in captain Shai Hope’s exceptional 117—his 17th ODI century—which was the highlight of the innings and pushed him to joint third on the all-time West Indies ODI century list.

    Hope received ample support from Keacy Carty (71) and Sherfane Rutherford (54), whose solid contributions underscored the team’s depth in the middle order.

    “I think we did some really good things; Shai Hope another 100, the joint fourth most by a West Indian, the way Keacy Carty batted, as well as Sherfane Rutherford making a fourth-consecutive 50. The way Matthew Forde bowled and the way Roston Chase came back after being put under pressure in the second over,” Sammy reasoned.

    “So we were right in the game until the last 10 overs, where I think they scored 100 off seven overs; that is not good enough. But I think as a team, it is about understanding where we are at and the small steps that we have to take to improve,” he noted.

    With Livingstone anchoring England’s chase alongside contributions from Phil Salt (59), Jacob Bethell (55), and Sam Curran (52), Sammy acknowledged that the West Indies bowling attack could have been more effective in applying pressure to seal the win after Hope’s brilliance.

    “I think Shai will be the first one to tell you that it (his knock) doesn’t matter because it came off a losing cause. But, as I said before, Shai Hope is a class act and one of our icons in ODI cricket, but I know he would want nothing more than a win instead of a hundred.

    “Again, it (the overall performance) shows that we are still far off but we are making little strides that will help us along our way with the goal that we have moving forward,” Sammy explained.

    With the three-match series now tied 1-1, Sammy expressed hope that West Indies will bring their best game to the decider in Barbados on Wednesday.

    “This is a rivalry, so we have all to play for at home. The last time we played in Barbados, we made history and won, so I am hoping we can again. It is two young teams looking to develop and get better in ODI cricket. Again, it is all to play for, so if the fans come out and support, in return, we have to give you guys something to smile about in Barbados,” Sammy ended.

  • New Zealand seal historic Test sweep of India New Zealand seal historic Test sweep of India

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    Having given themselves hope of avoiding a 3-0 defeat on day two, India found themselves chasing 145 for victory on a difficult pitch after Ravindra Jadeja had Ajaz Patel (8) caught by Akash Deep.

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    India lost four within the first eight overs with Patel taking two, sending stumps flying to account for Shubman Gill then having Sarfaraz Khan caught for one run apiece. 

    The Mumbai-born seamer finally got Pant’s all-important wicket 22 overs in following a successful review from Tom Latham, and India never looked likely to complete the chase from there.

    Glenn Phillips got in on the act with two wickets in two balls to dismiss Ravinchandran Ashwin (8) and Akash (0) before Patel finished things off when his spin ball beat the attempted sweep of Washington Sundar (12).

    Data Debrief: Black Caps make history

    This is the first time India have lost a Test series 3-0 on home soil in their history, and the first time they have lost three red-ball matches in any single home series since 1983.

    They were last blanked on their own turf in the format in a two-match series versus South Africa in 2000.

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  • England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick

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    England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.

    Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.

    England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.

    But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.

    "It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.

    "They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.

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    With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.

    Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

    Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.

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    "We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.

    "Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."

    England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.

    "That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."

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