His 55 from 34 balls, plus some fine strokes from James Vince, had left England needing 44 from the final 34 deliveries with eight wickets in hand in the picturesque surroundings of Nelson.

However, captain Eoin Morgan's dismissal sparked a slump which saw England lose five wickets in the space of 19 balls and their pursuit duly suffered as they closed on 7-166 to fall 2-1 down in the five-match series.

In mitigation, this was an England side containing only 142 T20 caps before this encounter, 83 of them belonging to Morgan, with the tourists including all six players who had not made their debut in the sprint format before this series.

Matt Parkinson peculiarly bowled only two overs on his international bow, taking a wicket with his fifth delivery, while fellow England debutant Tom Banton contributed 18 off 10 balls before he was bowled after missing a ramp.

England were sharper in the field after dropping five catches in Wellington while the Curran brothers impressed, taking combined figures of 3-58 from eight overs, though Saqib Mahmood was expensive.

After England had been asked to bowl first, Martin Guptill hit top gear early with 33 from 17 balls while Colin De Grandhomme's 55 from 35 deliveries helped the hosts to a what would prove an insurmountable total.

Banton sparkled briefly for England at the start of the reply by clubbing Lockie Ferguson for six over midwicket, but he then missed an attempted ramp off Blair Tickner and was bowled for 18 off 10 balls.

Malan's 29-ball 50 appeared to set up the chase but the left-hander was dismissed shortly afterwards, sending a Sodhi full toss down the throat of Guptill at midwicket.

England seemed to be in the ascendancy with Vince and Morgan at the crease but when the England captain (18) holed out the the visitors' innings fell apart.

Australian Associated Press