ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: New Zealand vs England - As it happened...

England take on New Zealand in the 9th match of the ICC World Cup 2015 to be played at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

Wellington: After a below par performance against Scotland in their previous match, New Zealand hit the ground in the 9th match of the ICC World Cup 2015 with a lot of intent as they crushed a hapless England side by 8 wickets.

New Zealand innings:

Over 12.2 | Score 125/2

Broad continued his spell, bowled a big short ball to Williamson which ended up going for 5 wides. Those are the winning runs for New Zealand. What a comprehensive win this is!

Kane Williamson 9* (22b) Ross Taylor 5* (5b)

Over 12 | Score 119/2

Woakes to continue. Maiden over. Post lunch, Kiwis look in no sort of hurry and want to finish the match without playing any risky strokes.

Over 11 | Score 119/2

Broad has been brought into the attack. Just three from the over. Kiwis now need five runs for a convincing win.

Over 10 | Score 116/2

Woakes resumed the bowling after lunch. Third ball was fuller and it zipped into Guptill's defence and the stumps were knocked off. Late breakthrough for England. Ross Taylor is the new man in. And he immediately got off the mark with a boundary through midwicket. Four from the over.

MJ Guptill b Woakes 22 (22b)

Over 8 | Score 109/1

Chris Woakes has been brought into the attack. He started with a full-toss, McCullum shimmied down the track, got a bottom edge which crashed on to the stumps! That's the end of one of the most entertaining knocks in World Cup history, McCullum leaves the ground to a standing ovation from the crowd! Kane Williamson is the new man in. Williamson got off the mark with a boundary straight down the ground. Five from the over.

BB McCullum b Woakes 77 (25b)

Over 7 | Score 105/0

Anderson to bowl his third over. Guptill faced two dot balls and scored three runs off the third ball. He bowled a full-toss to McCullum who smashed it past square leg for a boundary. Anderson followed it with a dot ball. Anderson bowled a slower ball, McCullum didn't pick that one and hit it towards short fine leg for no runs. McCullum kept the strike with a single off the last ball. 9 runs from the over, decent one for England we must say.

Over 6 | Score 96/0

Finn to continue. First ball was short and Guptill was ready for it as he pulled it past square leg for a boundary. Guptill took a single off the third ball. Finn bowled a short to McCullum, who made some room for himself and smashed it oveer deep point for a six to bring the fastest World Cup half-century off just 18 balls! What an innings from the champion batsman! McCullum made room for himself off the next ball and clobbered another massive Six! And just to make sure that the rhythm doesn't break, McCullum ended the over with another huge Six! 29 runs from the over and McCullum is batting on 72 off 21 balls!

Over 5 | Score 67/0

James Anderson to bowl his second over. After playing two dot ball, Guptill flicked the third delivery past midwicket for a boundary. Anderson followed it with a wide ball. Anderson bowled one down the leg side and Guptill just timed it past fine leg for a boundary. Guptill took a single off the last ball to keep the strike. Ten from the over.

Over 4 | Score 57/0

Steven Finn was introduced into the attack and McCullum treated him equally and smashed two sixes and as many boundaries in the over which produced 20 runs for New Zealand.

Over 3 | Score 37/0

McCullum is on fire as he smashed two more boundaries in the Anderson's third over of the innings. Ten from the over and the Kiwi crowd is just loving it!

Over 2 | Score 27/0

The Kiwis have started off the innings in style, as if they are chasing a total of over 300 runs. Martin Guptill scored a boundary in James Anderson's first over after which Brendon McCullum welcomed Stuart Broad with a six off the first ball of his spell and ended the over with three consecutive boundaries! Kiwis want to begin their celebrations as soon as possible.

England innings:

Over 33.2 | Score 123/10

England have been bowled out for a paltry score. They never showed the intent to put up a fight and Southee ripped through their batting order.

Southee became the first Kiwi cricketer to pick seven wickets in a World Cup match after Steven Finn became his seventh victim. Finn gave an easy catch in the slip cordon. With just one wicket left, Root had to take his chances and after hitting a boundary off Adam Milne, Root hit one high in the air and was caught by Vettori. That's the end of a forgettable innings for England.

JE Root c Vettori b Milne 46 (70b)

ST Finn c Taylor b Southee 0 (8b)

Over 32 | Score 116/8

Stuart Broad, who is known for counter-attacking the opponent when his team is left in tatters, tried doing so at Wellington and perished for 4 runs. Southee bowled another length ball to Broad, who mistimed his stroke in the air towards mid-off and Vettori took a good low catch. Steven Finn is the new man in and the onus is now on Joe Root to get his team to a respectable total. Meanwhile, Trent Boult has finished his spell (10-2-32-1)

SCJ Broad c Vettori b Southee 4 (10b)

Over 30 | Score 114/7

Tim Southee is bowling a dream spell here. After dismissing Morgan in his second spell of the match, Southee scalped two more wickets of Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes in the next over. He seems to be taking a wicket off every delivery. The crowd at Wellington is being treated with some scintillating seam bowling from Southee. England are in massive trouble here and now the challenge ahead of them is to bat till the 50th over.

CR Woakes b Southee 1 (2b)

JC Buttler c Ronchi b Southee 3 (7)

Over 27 | Score 106/5

Morgan wasn't looking in his rhythm and his innings ended when he tried hitting Vettori out of the ground and was caught brilliantly by Milne at long-on. James Taylor, England's hero in the previous match couldn't repeat the magic and was dismissed for a second-ball duck by Tim Southee. It was great captaincy from McCullum who brought Southee back into the attack the moment Morgan was dismissed and the pacer continued his good run in the tournament. England are wobbling here.

JWA Taylor b Southee 0 (2b)

EJG Morgan c Milne b Vettori 17 (41b)

Over 25 | Score 102/3

Even though runs are not coming at quick pace for England, they would be happy that they have not lost any more wickets. 23 runs have been scored in the last five overs.

Over 20 | Score 79/3

Daniel Vettori and Adam Milne are creating more pressure on England with some disciplined bowling. Morgan and Root are taking no chances for the time being and are mostly dealing in singles.

Over 18 | Score 71/3

Morgan and Root are in the process of stitching a crucial partnership for England. They have so far added 14 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership but England need them to do much more.

Over 15 | Score 60/3

Trent Boult picked his first wicket of the match when Gary Ballance gave an easy catch to Kane Williamson at short cover. McCullum gave a long spell to Boult here and he didn't disappoint his skipper. Eoin Morgan is the new man in and England would want their skipper to spend maximum time at the crease. If Morgan plays a good knock here, it could do wonders to the confidence of the entire team. 17 runs scored in the last five overs.

Over 10 | Score 43/2

After a positive approach to the innings, England are now on the backfoot after the double blow given to them by Tim Southee. Brendon McCullum has displayed aggressive captaincy so far as his fielders are in attacking positions and they continue to create pressure with superb ground fielding. England are in need of a big partnership.

Over 7 | Score 36/2

Tim Southee picked another wicket when he bowled an excellent yorker to get rid of Moeen Ali. Joe Root is the new man in.

Earlier, NZ used their review in the sixth over of the innings when Boult's delivery hit Ballance on the pads. The ground umpire wasn't interested and the review suggested it would have gone on to hit the top of leg stump.

MM Ali b Southee 20 (15b)

Over 5 | Score 31/0

Tim Southee got the first breakthrough for the Kiwis with the wicket of Ian Bell. The right-hander was looking confident at the crease before Southee pitched one full and invited him for the drive, the ball swung away and went on to hit the stumps. Gary Ballance is the new man in. Moeen Ali is also showing some positive intent at the crease and he scored three consecutive boundaries in the fifth over.

IR Bell b Southee 8 (17b)

Over 2 | Score 4/0

Tim Southee and Trent Boult have begun the proceedings for New Zealand, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell will open the innings for England. Both the seamers are getting good swing from the wicket. They have been in good form throughout the tournament and it will be a challenge for England to see them through.

Having won two consecutive matches, co-hosts New Zealand are in red hot form and they would want to continue their winning streak against England, a side which has not lived up to the expectations of the fans so far in the tournament.

In their first match of the prestigious event, England were decimated by the Aussies who thrashed them by 111 runs. In reply to Australia’s 342, England could reach just 231, 98 off which was scored by James Taylor.

England need the likes of Ian Bell, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan to deliver as a unit and put a formidable score on the board. Morgan, who was recently handed over the ODI captaincy, hasn’t been in the best of form and has scored four ducks in the last five innings.

England are a formidable side in the bowling department where the trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn can demolish the best of the batting line ups.

Black Caps on the other hand, would once again want to make the best use of the home advantage. In their previous match, even though they couldn’t register a convincing victory against Scotland, the Kiwis are expected to be at their best against the Poms.

Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee have all been in fine form and the home crowd should be rest assured of entertainment worth every penny spent on the match.