Lauren Bell’s career-best with the ball followed by twin half-centuries from Amy Jones and Nat Sciver-Brunt guides England to a comprehensive victory as the hosts complete a dominating series sweep against New Zealand.
The Heather Knight-led side clinched the 2nd ODI with a thumping eight-wicket victory with 153 balls to spare to seal the three-match ODI series. Maia Bouchier won the Player of the Match for her match-winning performance (100 off 88 balls) with the bat. She recorded her maiden International and ODI century.
England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and elected to field first in the 3rd ODI at County Ground, Bristol. The game was eventually reduced to a 42-overs per side contest courtesy of a rain delay. After being inserted to bat first, New Zealand got off to a cautious start, scoring at just over three-runs an over. Georgia Plimmer was found short of her crease to provide the first breakthrough for England. Amelia Kerr joined Suzie Bates at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 20-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Kate Cross picked up the wicket of Suzie Bates to provide the 2nd breakthrough for England.
Skipper Sophie Devine joined Amelia Kerr at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 68-run partnership for the 3rd wicket leading a decent recovery for New Zealand. Lauren Bell cleaned up Sophie Devine to pick up the big wicket of the opposition skipper to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. Maddy Green soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for England.
Brooke Halliday joined Amelia Kerr at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 65-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Lauren Bell came back and picked up the wicket of Amelia Kerr to provide the much-needed breakthrough for her side. New Zealand were eventually restricted to 211/8 in their quota of 42 overs. Amelia Kerr (57 off 82 balls), skipper Sophie Devine (43 off 43 balls), Brooke Halliday (31 off 54 balls), and Suzie Bates (24 off 33 balls) were the top performers with the bat for New Zealand.
Lauren Bell (9-0-37-5), Kate Cross (9-0-46-2), and Nat Sciver-Brunt (8-0-31-0) were the top performers with the ball for England. Chasing a target of 212, England got off to a poor start, as they lost the wicket of Tammy Beaumont in the 1st over of the run chase. She departed for a duck. Hannah Rowe provided the first breakthrough for New Zealand.
Skipper Heather Knight joined Maia Bouchier at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 29-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Hannah Rowe came back and picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Heather Knight to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Maia Bouchier soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for New Zealand. Sophie Dunkley joined Nat Sciver-Brunt at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 39-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Amelia Kerr picked up the wicket of Sophia Dunkley to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones joined Nat Sciver-Brunt at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 90-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Brooke Halliday picked up the wicket of wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones to provide the 5th breakthrough for New Zealand. Alice Capsey joined Nat Sciver-Brunt at the crease and the duo took their side over the line with an unbeaten 50-run 6th wicket partnership.
Nat Sciver-Brunt (76 off 84 balls), wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (50 off 50 balls), and Alice Capsey (35 off 30 balls), were the top performers with the bat for England. Hannah Rowe (9-0-38-2), Molly Penfold (8-1-45-1), Amelia Kerr (7-0-44-1), Brooke Halliday (4-0-29-1), and skipper Sophie Devine (6.4-0-29-0) were the top performers with the ball for New Zealand.
The 23-year-old pacer Lauren Bell was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional spell, returning with her career-best figures (9-0-37-5) with the ball in the ODI format, playing a crucial role in helping England seal a comprehensive whitewash against New Zealand. The 25-year-old opening batter Maia Bouchier was awarded the Player of the Series for being the leading run-scorer of the recently concluded ODI series, scoring 186 runs at an impressive strike rate of 117.72 and a humongous average of 93 in three innings. Her tally of runs includes one half-century and one century.
