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England win toss and bowl first
When it's raining around you, you're the second one to hit the ball. Harry Brooke was often unorthodox, but not that unorthodox.
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Preface
Good morning everyone, good evening everyone else, and welcome to the decider of the Twenty20 series. A win for New Zealand is a realistic result that we have not had so far and would mean the spoils are shared, which seems fair after New Zealand had the better win in the first game. But any other result here would have ceded the series to England – and that included a no result, with England rearing their heads again.
In Auckland tonight, as in Christchurch last Saturday, significant rainfall is expected in the second half of the evening. Common sense might gently suggest this should have been a 10-plus game from the start. After all, half the point of white-ball cricket is getting a winner at bedtime. But, as we all know, there are certain parts of cricket that are beyond the reach of common sense.
For England and their new captain Harry Brooke, a win (or even a heavy defeat) would confirm suspicions that they have memorized how to play T20s. For New Zealand and the experienced Mitchell Santner, it will be a sign that they have never forgotten. If you look at the results over the past year, England's win the other night pushed them ahead of New Zealand. They have now won 12 games to New Zealand's 11, but both sides have lost six and been eliminated twice. Hopefully they won't increase that last number.
The game starts at 7.15am (UK time), all going well I'll be back soon with news about hurling and the team.
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Updated at 06.50 BST