English cricket team in New Zealand in 1996–97

The England national cricket team toured New Zealand in February and March 1997 and played a three-match Test series against the New Zealand national cricket team. England won the series 2–0 with one match drawn. Five ODIs, along with 4 tour matches were also played.^[1]

Test series

1st Test

24–28 January 1997 (5-day match) Scorecard

New Zealand	v	England
390 (131.5 overs) SP Fleming 129 (254) D Gough 4/91 (32 overs)		521 (187.4 overs) AJ Stewart 173 (277) DK Morrison 3/104 (24.4 overs)
248/9d (114 overs) NJ Astle 102* (214) PCR Tufnell 3/53 (40 overs)

Match drawn Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and RS Dunne (NZ) Player of the match: AJ Stewart (ENG) and NJ Astle (NZ)

• England won the toss and elected to field.

2nd Test

6–10 February 1997 (5-day match) Scorecard

New Zealand	v	England
124 (48.3 overs) DN Patel 45 (66) D Gough 5/40 (16 overs)		383 (137.3 overs) GP Thorpe 108 (249) SB Doull 5/75 (28 overs)
191 (103.2 overs) BA Pocock 64 (271) D Gough 4/52 (23 overs)

England won by an innings and 68 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and DB Cowie (NZ) Player of the match: GP Thorpe (ENG)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
• DL Vettori (NZ) made his Test debut.

3rd Test

14–18 February 1997 (5-day match) Scorecard

New Zealand	v	England
346 (129.1 overs) SP Fleming 62 (167) RDB Croft 5/95 (39.1 overs)		228 (84.4 overs) MA Atherton 94* (235) GI Allott 4/74 (18 overs)
186 (88.3 overs) CL Cairns 52 (106) D Gough 3/42 (13.3 overs)		307/6 (146.4 overs) MA Atherton 118 (311) DL Vettori 4/97 (57 overs)

England won by 4 wickets Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and DB Hair (AUS) Player of the match: MA Atherton (ENG)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• MJ Horne (NZ) made his Test debut.

ODIs series

The series was drawn 2-2, with one match tied.

1st ODI

20 February 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

New Zealand  222/6 (50 overs)	v	England 226/6 (48.5 overs)
NJ Astle 50 (62) PCR Tufnell 4/22 (10 overs)		GP Thorpe 82 (104) HT Davis 3/44 (8.5 overs)

England won by 4 wickets Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: CE King and DM Quested Player of the match: PCR Tufnell (ENG)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.

2nd ODI

23 February 1997 Scorecard

New Zealand  253/8 (50 overs)	v	England 134/4 (19.3 overs)
CL Cairns 79 (74) AR Caddick 2/33 (6 overs)		NV Knight 84* (70) SB Doull 2/39 (5 overs)

England won by 6 wickets (run rate) Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: BF Bowden and DB Cowie Player of the match: NV Knight (ENG)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
• England’s target was reduced to 132 runs from 26 overs (as 253 x 26/50 = 131.56).

3rd ODI

26 February 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

New Zealand  237 (49.4 overs)	v	England 237/8 (50 overs)
BA Young 53 (82) C White 4/37 (5.4 overs)		GP Thorpe 55 (61) CZ Harris 3/20 (10 overs)

Match tied McLean Park, Napier Umpires: CE King and DM Quested Player of the match: CZ Harris (NZ)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
• GI Allott (NZ) made his ODI debut.

4th ODI

2 March 1997 Scorecard

New Zealand  153 (39.5 overs)	v	England 144 (41.3 overs)
NJ Astle 51 (68) RDB Croft 2/26 (9 overs)		AJ Stewart 42 (68) GR Larsen 3/20 (8.3 overs)

New Zealand won by 9 runs Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: DB Cowie and RS Dunne Player of the match: GR Larsen and NJ Astle (both NZ)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• The match was originally scheduled for 1 March but was delayed by rain.
• The match was reduced to 43 overs by rain.

5th ODI

4 March 1997 Scorecard

New Zealand  228/8 (50 overs)	v	England 200 (47.5 overs)
NJ Astle 94 (129) AR Caddick 3/35 (10 overs)		GP Thorpe 55 (82) NJ Astle 2/26 (5 overs)

New Zealand won by 28 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: RS Dunne and EA Watkin Player of the match: NJ Astle (NZ)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.

See also

• English cricket team in Zimbabwe in 1996–97 that ended weeks before this tour