When Chris Jordan pulled the final ball of an 11-overs-a-side thrash for four, the 9,000 or so spectators inside Eden Park could scarcely believe their eyes: England and New Zealand were heading into a super over for the second time this year.

What followed in this series decider may have lacked some of the stomach-churning intensity of the World Cup final in July but the result was still the same, as Eoin Morgan’s side emerged victorious – albeit by a more convincing margin of nine runs, rather than the boundary countback required at Lord’s.

In fact, for all the sense of deja vu on a day when New Zealand made 146 for five in a rain-reduced match, only for England to force a tie seven down, the six-ball shootout was a bit of an anticlimax. The hosts were always up against it after Jonny Bairstow and Morgan both cleared the ropes to post 17 runs.

Jordan was the bowler entrusted to close out proceedings. Shipping just eight runs, the now seasoned campaigner also struck with his fourth delivery when Tim Seifert, chosen for the job after crunching a 16-ball 39 earlier on, miscued an attempted six and Morgan held a spectacular diving catch over his shoulder.

“I think it does give us good problems,” Morgan said, reflecting on a 3‑2 series win that was secured from 2-1 down despite a host of senior players being rested. “When you select a squad like we did you always run the risk of getting drilled, particularly away from home. We are further ahead than we thought.

“The guys on this tour who will probably miss out on the next tour to South Africa have raised that benchmark for the guys who will come back in. They are now expected to score runs and expected to do well because of the opportunities given and taken by these guys.”

One fringe player who will surely make the cut for England’s next T20 series, as they ramp up preparations for the World Cup in Australia, is Dawid Malan. The left‑hander’s unbeaten 103 in Napier was enough to see him benched here, along with two bowlers in Pat Brown and Matt Parkinson.

While doubtless keen to play, the inexperienced pair dodged a bit of a bullet. The big screen at Eden Park claims it to be “a safety-conscious stadium” but with short straight boundaries at either end and a flat drop-in pitch, bowling and spectating are a somewhat hazardous pastime.

New Zealand’s Martin Guptill hits out during his innings of 50 off 20 deliveries. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

New Zealand’s innings included 15 sixes, as Martin Guptill blazed 50 from 20 balls and Colin Munro 46 from 21. Overs such as the sixth from Adil Rashid, removing Guptill and costing just five runs, or Saqib Mahmood’s follow-up, taking out Colin de Grandhomme and bleeding just seven, were triumphs in the circumstances.

Tom Curran deserves a nod here, too. His solitary over with the new ball was pumped for 20 runs but he still delivered at the back end, responding to a Seifert straight six over long-off by castling the wicketkeeper with a lasered yorker and costing a further four runs thereafter.

England’s reply faltered at first. Tom Banton was pinned lbw in Trent Boult’s opening over – confirmed after an initial malfunction by Hawkeye – and James Vince ended a personally maddening tour by chipping Tim Southee to mid-off second ball.

But Bairstow biffed 47 from 18 balls, including three straight sixes off Ish Sodhi that, along with cameos from Morgan (17 from seven) and Sam Curran (24 from 11), wiped out a fair chunk of the deficit in little time.

Seasoned watchers of these two sides in recent times know a twist tends to be just around the corner, coming here in the shape of three wickets in four deliveries that left 40 runs required from 24 balls.

Sam Billings slightly gummed up the works on a tour when his time in the middle has been fleeting. But Jordan was able to finish off the innings by striking six, two, four off Jimmy Neesham to send the game into the super over.

The disappointment that followed for the hosts was clearly not comparable to four months ago. As Southee, deputising for Kane Williamson, simply remarked: “Hopefully it’s a case of third time lucky if there’s another one.”