New Zealand have been reminded that spin will be king at the World Twenty20 following a six-wicket loss to England in their final warm-up game in India.
The Black Caps were stymied by tweakers Adil Rashid (3-15) and Moeen Ali (1-30) in reaching 8-169 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, with captain Kane Williamson (63 off 39 balls) the only batsman to pass 20.
The English responded with 4-170 with four balls to spare in a well-paced chase which only wobbled during spells from New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner (2-24) and Nathan McCullum (2-25).
The result follows a 74-run blitz of Sri Lanka at the same venue on Thursday ahead of New Zealand's opening World T20 match against India in Nagpur on Tuesday.
Santner admits the Black Caps learned some important lessons as Nagpur tends to favour spin bowling.
"It's definitely tougher over here against the spinners. Everyone's got their own game plans but we're pretty confident with our batters that, when confronted with spin, they're going to be all right," he said.
"At Nagpur it's probably going to spin so you'll just have to adapt quickly at different grounds."
Santner believed 170 was a "par" score against the English and praised their heavy hitting at the start and finish of the chase.
England openers Jason Roy (55 off 36) and Alex Hales (44 off 36) put on a lively 77, dealing comfortably with seamers Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan before the chase lost direction.
It took a 24-run cameo off nine balls from Jos Buttler to steer the English to an encouraging result before their opening game against the West Indies in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Williamson was dismissed cheaply in the Sri Lanka game but delivered a reminder of his class with a classy innings comprising nine fours and a six.
Ross Taylor was unbeaten on 19, forced to play a careful knock as wickets fell at a swift rate during the middle stages.
