Harry Brook, Phil Salt blaze away

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Oct 20 (Agencies): A ruthless England led by skipper Harry Brook's brutal 78 punished some lax New Zealand fielding to win the second T20 international by 65 runs in Christchurch on Monday.

The visitors raced to a mammoth 236-4 from their 20 overs after Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to field at Hagley Oval.

Brook and opener Phil Salt (85) blasted New Zealand to all parts while the hosts didn't help themselves with misfields, errant throwing and dropped catches.

Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert dropped Jacob Bethell after a top edge swirled high in the strong northwest wind, and later James Neesham put down Brook.

The Brook drop was crucial, with the 26-year-old blasting 78 from just 35 deliveries as part of a 129-run partnership with Salt.

Brook showed his intent just two balls after he was dropped, smacking a powerful pull shot more than 100 metres over midwicket, the ball landing outside the ground.

"It felt good," Brook said, after the opening match of the series on Saturday was washed out.

"It's always nice to contribute. It was just nice to get some runs out there and hit a couple out of the park."

He hit six fours and five sixes during his stay, finally falling after mistiming a lofted drive to long-on.

Salt played second fiddle for much of his innings -- scoring 85 from 56 balls -- rotating the strike before seizing on any loose bowling.

Brook said the pair tried to keep one another "calm and composed" during their century stand, while "looking to manipulate the field and put them under as much pressure as possible".

Tom Banton blasted 29 from only 12 balls to end the innings, helping England to the highest T20 total scored in Christchurch.

New Zealand's chase started poorly, losing both Tim Robinson and Rachin Ravindra in the second over.

It found life with Seifert and Mark Chapman, who combined for a 69-run partnership in quick time, but when both fell either side of the 10-over mark New Zealand's pursuit had all but ended.

England's spinners, Adil Rashid (4-32) and Liam Dawson (2-38), and seamer Brydon Carse (2-27) gave away little during their spells as New Zealand were bowled out for 171.

The third match of the T20 series will be played at Eden Park in Auckland on Thursday night.

Brook was keen to stress before this series there would be no talk about next month's Ashes series within his white-ball group, insisting his focus is on preparing for the T20 World Cup in February.

Brook's T20 international record is modest for a man of his talents - an average of 29 and five fifties in 50 innings - but this was one of his best knocks in either white-ball format as captain.

Even with a good batting surface and a strong wind helping six hitting, a successful chase was always a long shot for New Zealand.

They would be better served looking towards the dropped catch of Brook for a reason for defeat.

Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert also spilled a catch when Bethell sent a top-edge high into the wind on seven, while Sam Curran was dropped twice before ending on 49 in Saturday's washout. It is rare problem for a side usually known for its fielding prowess.

Rashid missed a tough caught-and-bowled chance but England held onto 10 catches - eight of which were batters holing out in the deep.

When Seifert and Mark Chapman put on a third-wicket stand of 69 from 48 balls, New Zealand had an outside chance, but Chapman fell to Liam Dawson and Seifert to Rashid in a collapse of four wickets in 3.1 overs.

Dawson's figures of 2-38 were spoiled slightly by one over that cost 23.

Seamer Brydon Carse dismissed Tim Robinson with his first ball and nicked off Rachin Ravindra for eight.

He was impressive in taking a timely 2-27, with Jofra Archer sure to take one of the pace bowling spots when England name their first World Cup XI.