Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales made 1 as England beat New Zealand in Hamilton – but not comprehensively enough to reach the Twenty 20 Tri-series final against Australia.
Captain Eoin Morgan led from the front with 80 not out and Dawid Malan scored 53 as England posted 194-7 batting first.
And although they restricted New Zealand to 192-4 to win by two runs in a tight finish, they needed to keep the hosts to under 175 to progress on net run rate.
Martin Guptill scored 62 and Colin Munro 57 for the Kiwis as spinners Adil Rashid (1-22) and Liam Dawson (1-27) bowled economically.
England now have five One-Day internationals against New Zealand before a two-Test series starting on 22 March, for which Notts’ Stuart Broad will fly out to be available for.
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