Wellington, Nov 1 (IANS) After winning their first two ODIs in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton, hosts New Zealand clinched a thrilling victory in the third and final ODI of the series here at the Sky Stadium to hand England a heartbreaking 0-3 defeat. The Mitchell Santner-led side beat the visitors by two wickets.

Put to bat first, England were bowled out for 222 runs in 40.2 overs, marking the third straight instance of the hosts being bowled out to visitors this series. The top-order batters failed to fire as Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root were dismissed cheaply.

While the two openers were dismissed for 5 and 8 runs, respectively, Root perished scoring just two runs off three deliveries as the Kiwis got three wickets inside the first five overs.

Skipper Harry Brook, who had been in good touch with the bat, also had a bad outing as Jacob Duffy sent him packing for an 11-ball six. It was Jos Buttler’s slow 38, followed by Jamie Overton (68 off 62) and Brydon Carse’s (36 off 30) fireworks in the later part that helped England get past the 200-run mark.

Blair Tickner continued his fine form and picked up a four-wicket haul while Duffy picked three as the host bowlers ran through the visitors’ batting lineup.

Chasing the 223-run target, the Kiwis too faced difficulties as the Englishmen left no page unturned. Openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra started well for the side, stitching a 78-run stand before the former was dismissed. Ravindra and No. 3 batter Will Young also perished in the next two overs as the visiting side got key breakthroughs.

It was Daryl Mitchell’s knock that anchored New Zealand’s innings as he kept the scoreboard ticking from one end while wickets kept falling on the other. Some late support from skipper Santner, followed by Zak Foulkes and Tickner’s composed knock under pressure, helped the BlackCaps chase down the target in the 45th over.

England’s efforts with the ball fell just short as the hosts snatched a two-wicket win, as Foulkes finished the chase with a boundary. With that, Santner and his men clinched the ODI series 3-0 in an emphatic fashion.

Brief Scores: England 222 in 40.2 overs (Jamie Overton 68, Jos Buttler 38; Blair Tickner 4-64, Jacob Duffy 3-56) lost to New Zealand 226/8 in 44.4 overs (Rachin Ravindra 46, Daryl Mitchell 44; Jamie Overton 2-32, Sam Curran 2-46) by two wickets.

–IANS

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