Stuart Broad is hoping the record-breaking victory over New Zealand is a sign of special things to come from his England Twenty20 team.
In a six-hitting spectacular at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday, the tourists finished streets ahead with 15 of the 23 sixes struck – many over the short straight boundaries at this venue.
After Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright had powered the visitors to 214 for seven, 12 runs more than England have ever made in the shortest format, Broad's career-best four for 24 helped finish the job.
New Zealand's 174 for nine left them losers by 40 runs and 1-0 down with two matches to play in Hamilton and Wellington.
Morgan's 46 was England's top score, but their six-hitters just kept coming – and then Wright, Steven Finn (three for 39) and Broad provided the wickets which meant the hosts' run chase was never quite competitive.
The England captain reflected on an impressive collective performance which left him wanting more of the same.
"It was a really good exper-ience to be out there today and the energy out there in the field was fantastic," he said.
"It was really calm but with a lot of buzz out there – and that's what you're looking for. The power we have is hugely exciting. Our challenge is to make it as good at Hamilton as it was today."
The strange dimensions of the playing surface for this first match lend themselves to an extreme version of cricket but there was no doubt England adapted better than their hosts.
"You're not going to see smaller straight boundaries than that. Fielding at mid-off was pretty much long-off," said Broad. "But some of the striking would be sixes anywhere in the world."
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum rued his team's poor catching – five chances went down in all – and gave credit to England.
"They put us under pressure from the start and we were never able to claw it back," he said. "No-one means to drop catches but five drops in a Twenty20 game is never going to help your cause."
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