The England women’s team led by skipper Heather Knight completed a dominating series sweep (3-0) in the three-match ODI series with a five-wicket victory in the 3rd ODI of the series.
The caravan now moves onto the five-match T20I series. New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine won the toss and elected to field first in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl Southampton. After being inserted to bat first, the England openers Danielle Wyatt and Maia Bouchier got off to a flying start with a 61-run opening stand, scoring at over eight runs an over.
Lea Tahuhu picked up the wicket of Maia Bouchier to provide the first breakthrough for New Zealand. Nat Sciver-Brunt joined Danielle Wyatt at the crease and the duo stitched another massive 82-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side to a position of strength. Off-spinner Eden Carson picked up the wicket of Nat Sciver-Brunt to provide the much-needed 2nd breakthrough for her side. She fell three runs short of her well-deserved half-century.
Freya Kemp joined the opening batter, Danielle Wyatt at the crease and the duo took their side close to the 170-run mark with a 26-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Lea Tahuhu came back and picked up the wicket of Danielle Wyatt to provide the 3rd breakthrough for New Zealand. England eventually ended up with a total of 197/3 in their quota of overs. Danielle Wyatt (76 off 51 balls), Nat Sciver-Brunt (47 off 23 balls), Maia Bouchier (32 off 26 balls), and Freya Kemp (26 off 17 balls) were the top performers with the bat for England.
Lea Tahuhu (4-0-33-2), Amelia Kerr (4-0-30-0), Jess Kerr (3-0-26-0), and Eden Carson (2-0-26-1) were the top performers with the ball for New Zealand. Chasing a target of 198, New Zealand got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Georgia Plimmer as she was found short of her crease in the 2nd over of the run chase.
Amelia Kerr joined Suzie Bates at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 51-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to lead some sort of recovery for the White Ferns. Charlie Dean picked up the wicket of Amelia Kerr to provide the 2nd breakthrough for England. Sarah Glenn struck thrice to land a massive blow to the visitor’s hopes, removing Suzie Bates, Maddy Green, and skipper Sophie Devine providing a firm grip on the contest for the home side.
Courtesy of a collapse, New Zealand were in deep trouble at 67/6 in the 11th over of the run chase. Jess Kerr joined Brooke Halliday at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 43-run partnership for the 7th wicket taking them past the 100-run mark. New Zealand were eventually restricted to 138/9 in their quota of overs, falling short of the target by 59 runs. Suzie Bates (43 off 33 balls), Jess Kerr (38 off 26 balls), Amelia Kerr (18 off 16 balls), Lea Tahuhu (17 off 15 balls), and Brooke Halliday (17 off 20 balls) were the top performers with the bat for New Zealand.
Sarah Glenn (4-0-16-3), Charlie Dean (3-0-28-2), Linsey Smith (4-0-26-1), and Freya Kemp (4-0-30-1) were the top performers with the ball for England. Opening batter Danielle Wyatt was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning performance (76 off 51 balls) with the bat to give England a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.