LONDON (AP) — With Ben Stokes rested, Dawid Malan took up the mantle of England's power hitter by smashing 127 off 114 balls in the team's total of 311-9 in the fourth and final match of the one-day international series against New Zealand at Lord's on Friday.
Malan backed up his knock of 96 in Wednesday's third ODI — when he was upstaged by Stokes making 182 for the highest individual ODI score by an England player — by hitting 13 fours and three sixes to post his fifth century in the 50-over format.
The English, who won the toss, slowed in the second half of the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals, but still went beyond 300 for the second straight match as they look for a win at the home of cricket to clinch the series 3-1.
Jos Buttler contributed 36 off 31 balls, while Joe Root (29) and Liam Livingstone (28) also couldn't take advantage of good starts.
Stokes wasn't playing at Lord's to manage his fitness after featuring in the first three matches of the series and ahead of the Cricket World Cup, which starts on Oct. 5 with England playing New Zealand.
Spinner Rachin Ravindra had the best bowling figures of 4-60 off his 10 overs.
The teams last met at Lord’s in an ODI in the 2019 Cricket World Cup final, won in extraordinary circumstances by the English.
Harry Brook, David Willey and Brydon Carse were recalled by England, but opener Jason Roy missed out — meaning he was absent for the entire series — after failing to get over a back injury. That's a concern ahead of the World Cup as he looks to hold off Brook for a place in the squad.
New Zealand brought in seamers Matt Henry and Tim Southee for Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult. Fast bowler Ben Lister went off in the middle of the innings with a suspected hamstring sustained while fielding.
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