Rain is on the menu in Auckland today, meaning there is a decent chance on minimal cricket being played in the deciding T20I between Aotearoa and England. That's a bummer, obviously from a series perspective, I was also eager to see how the kiwi bowlers dealt with the mix of frisky English batsmen, another small ground and a splash of pressure. That combination saw the Blackcaps bowlers get smacked to all parts in Napier, gifting England the win and leaving an icky taste - which could be the final act of the series.

The 4th T20I was the first game in which Aotearoa batted first and across those first three games, the kiwis scored 150+ which at the very least forced England's batsmen into action. With England batting first in Napier, the whole paradigm shifts to give England a sense of freedom in assessing conditions and then executing their whacks. England were only rocking along at 5.16rpo when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in 3.1ov and 8.05rpo when Tom Banton was dismissed in 7.2ov; England settled in steadily and then went whack with an overall run-rate of 12.05rpo.

Full-bangers, half-trackers and all kinds of juicy deliveries that ended up exactly where Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan wanted them, then became a staple of the innings. It's niggly to examine bowling performances when multiple blokes are going at over 10rpo and the general norm in that specific innings wasn't good, especially on a unique ground with conditions that were in the batsmen's favour. That flows into noting the work of Trent Boutl, who returned to the Blackcaps T20I set up and bowled 4ov @ 8.75rpo without a wicket, as well as Mitchell Santner who continued his impressive series with 2w @ 8rpo in 4ov.

To be straight up, Santner's effort this series has been a bit surprising. I don't know why, perhaps I'll settle on expecting Santner to always be solid but not quite as dominant as he has been and while Santner has looked like the best Blackcaps bowler in this series, his numbers back that up with 9w @ 13.44avg/7.56rpo. This comes after Santner took 4w @ 17avg/5.6rpo in Sri Lanka, where he was 2nd to Tim Southee in Blackcaps wickets.

In 2019, Santner is averaging 16 through 11 games with the ball. For some context, Santner hasn't averaged under 20 since 2016 and there is a bit of spice via Santner's mini T20I resurgence when we ponder Aotearoa's spin situation. Santner has missed a bunch of Test cricket recently, allowing the likes of Ajaz Patel, Will Somerville and Todd Astle to sneak into the mix and while I won't tell youz that the big dawg is back in the Test cricket yard, it's an idea to tuck away as we move towards Test cricket.

Not much to report about with the batting. Just like the pressure of trying contain a England batting line up who are flowing freely put the Blackcaps in a tough spot, chasing 242 immediately puts the batsmen under pressure. Having highlighted the plateau of Colin Munro in Blackcaps T20I cricket, he racked up 30 @ 142.85sr and now has 64 runs @ 16avg/118.51sr. Remember that this comes after a super downbuzz series in Sri Lanka and unfortunately, Tim Seifert is in the same predicament to Munro in plodding through lack of runs.

Seifert batted in all three games vs Sri Lanka, putting up 38 runs @ 12.66avg/88.37sr. This series, batting in all four games so far, Seifert has 58 runs @ 14.50avg/101.75sr and that's low key horrible. Two of the Blackcaps top-three are averaging below 20, which can be digested if strike-rates are 130+ and as a general rule of thumb for T20I batsmen; the lower your average is, your strike-rate better be high.

Like Munro, Seifert's strike-rate amplifies his slump. In Sri Lanka, Seifert's 88.37sr wasn't good and now vs England, Seifert's 101.75sr is the lowest of any batsman with 50+ runs. Seifert and Munro, have the two lowest strike-rates of all batsmen in this series with 50+ runs and that's a bit of an issue considering how they tend to go about their business in the shorter format.

The whole point of playing so much T20I cricket right now is to suss out the best T20I team for World T20 stuff. Based on the Sri Lanka series and this England series, Munro, Seifert and Ish Sodhi haven't taken their opportunities and are currently stuck in an awkward spot. Here are the numbers from those two series and youz can come to your own conclusions...

Ish Sodhi

Sri Lanka: 7ov, 1w @ 57avg/8.14rpo.

England: 14ov, 3w @ 51.33avg/8.38rpo.

Colin Munro

Sri Lanka: 3inns, 25 runs @ 8.33avg/125sr.

England: 4inns, 64 runs @ 16avg/118.51sr.

Tim Seifert

Sri Lanka: 3inns, 38 runs @ 12.66avg/88.37sr.

England: 4inns, 58 runs @ 14.50avg/101.75sr.

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Peace and love 27.