Twenty20 skipper delighted after highest-ever total.
Captain Stuart Broad hailed his England team after a record Twenty20 total of 214-7 laid the foundations for a 40-run victory over New Zealand in the series opener in Auckland on Saturday.
England had never posted a total higher than the 214 struck at Eden Park – a total which included 15 sixes – and New Zealand were no match as they could only post 174-9 in reply with the skipper himself chipping in with four wickets.
Broad labelled the display, which saw him become England’s leading Twenty20 wicket taker with 52 dismissals to his name, the best of his reign as captain.
“Certainly that I’ve captained,” he told Sky Sports after the win. “Looking back to the 2010 World Cup where we won we were fantastic throughout that tournament, but to go and get a record score of 214, that’s the exciting thing in the team, to have that mindset to go and get such a high score.
“A lot of the time you think 170, 180 is a good score. To go and get such a high score and defend it comprehensively, we’re delighted with that. To lose the toss and then go and set our record score as an England batting line-up is fantastic.”
Eoin Morgan (46) and Luke Wright (42) laid the foundations for the England victory before Broad (4-24) and Steven Finn (3-39) did the business with the ball despite Martin Guptill top scoring for New Zealand with 44.
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