'That's one that got away,' admits England captain Eoin Morgan after dramatic batting collapse costs them T20 match in New Zealand

England lose five wickets in 18 balls as Kiwis take series lead

New Zealand's players celebrate their victory during the Twenty20 cricket match between New Zealand and England at Saxton Oval in Nelson on November 5, 2019. / AFP / Marty MELVILLE
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Captain Eoin Morgan admitted England had blown their chance after a dramatic batting collapse saw his side lose five wickets for only 10 runs and allowed New Zealand to snatch a 14-run victory in their Twenty20 international in Nelson.

England were on track to overhaul New Zealand's 180 when they reached 139-2 in the 15th over, with Morgan in full flight as he cracked sixes off consecutive Mitchell Santner deliveries.

But with England needing 42 off the remaining 31 deliveries Santner turned the match when he had Morgan caught by Colin Munro off the final ball of the over.

Dawid Malan (55) and James Vince (49) had laid a solid foundation for England at the top of the innings.

But Morgan's dismissal started a collapse which saw Munro run out Sam Billings for one in the following over before Blair Tickner removed Vince.

In the space of two deliveries Lockie Ferguson bowled Lewis Gregory without scoring and had Sam Curran caught for two, leaving Tom Curran and Saqib Mahmood to struggle through to the end.

"That's one that got away," England captain Morgan said, pointing to the lack of experience in his squad. "We were in control for the whole chase until we were three or four down, probably that's a lack of experience. The guys need to get more games into them at this level."

Ferguson and Tickner both finished with 2-25 while spinner Santner and Ish Sodhi took a wicket apiece.

"It could have gone either way at the halfway mark. But we knew if we could keep taking wickets it would be touch for them," New Zealand captain Tim Southee said.

England's line-up contained six players who had not featured in a T20 international before this series and only Morgan and Sam Billings, the Irishman's deputy for this series, had been capped more than a dozen times.

Morgan said: "It is the most inexperienced side that we will field. We can't come out expecting to win 5-0, we do need to learn and make mistakes throughout the whole series.

"An important part of learning is recognising exactly where you were and what you did wrong. You can't be blindsided or be stubborn enough to not take in good information."

A sound middle-order partnership by Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor laid the basis for New Zealand after Martin Guptill had given them a flying start with 33 off 17 deliveries.

Man-of-the-match de Grandhomme smacked 55 off 35 while Taylor produced a more sedate 27 from 24 in a 66-run stand after New Zealand were three down in the eighth over.

It was a better performance by England in the field with a much-improved catching effort which accounted for four of the seven wickets.

Matt Parkinson marked his England debut with one for 14 but curiously only bowled two overs, while Lancashire team-mate Saqib Mahmood was expensive and finished with 4-0-49-1.

The Curran brothers bowled well to record combined figures of 3-58, but the bowling discipline dropped as New Zealand benefited from eight wides and two no balls.

The hosts now lead 2-1 up in the five-match series.