The final and 12th match in the league stage at the Commonwealth Games had England and New Zealand lock horns. Both sides playing their last league stage game saw England come better prepared for the occasion having bowled New Zealand out cheaply and then topped the outing with a comforting batting display to bag a comprehensive win.
1st innings: New Zealand – 71/9 (20)
New Zealand having won the toss opt to bat first and had nothing go their way as Katherine Brunt with an absolute peach dismissed Sophie Devine in the first over on 1(2). In no time England and Brunt had another as Amelia Kerr walked back on 3(7). Issy Wong was introduced in the 4th over and struck Bates on 6(8). A couple of boundaries and few runs had New Zealand close their powerplay overs on 21-3. The outing got bad to worse for New Zealand in the middle overs as Amy Jones with a run-out got an end to Halliday’s struggle on 1(9). Issy Wong’s reintroduction in the 10th over saw her strike Jensen on 7(15) to restrict New Zealand to 35-5 at halfway mark. Maddy Green’s resistance saw her have a couple of welcome boundaries but couldn’t convert her start as Sophie Ecclestone’s reintroduction had her strike Green on 19(24). Spin twin, Sarah Glenn too got in action having dismissed Tahuhu on 7(8) and followed the over with another excellent one which saw Alice Capsey run-out Izzy Gaze on 4(11) and then Rosemary Mair depart for a first-ball duck which had New Zealand further down to 57-9 at 15-over mark. New Zealand hung in for the next 5 overs managing 14 runs which had only one boundary that’d come in the last over which saw New Zealand get to a total of 71. For England, Sarah Glenn with 2 wickets and an economy rate of 3.2 topped the wicket charts which had Issy Wong and Katherine Brunt with their couple each and Sophie Ecclestone with a wicket to her name follow. Special mention to Katherine Brunt as she registered figures of 2/4 in her 3 overs.
England need 72 Runs to Win the Final match of the league round and top the Group B table.#CricketTwitter #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/2BREWMKc3u
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) August 4, 2022
2nd innings : England – 72/3 (11.4)
New Zealand looking to defend 71 had a perfect start as Fran Jonas got Danni Wyatt to walk back on 1(4). It then wasn’t a lot as there came a flow of boundaries which saw Alice Capsey hammer Lea Tahuhu for 4 boundaries to bag a 16 run over and Sophia Dunkely too got on show striking boundaries in quick succession which had England finish their powerplay overs on a score of 43-1. The field opened and there came instant impacts from Amelia Kerr dismissing set betters in Alice Capsey on 23(19) and Sophia Dunkely on 19(23). The pair of Nat Sciver and Amy Jones with an unbeaten 20-ball-26 run stand closed the game for England which saw Nat Sciver struggle to get going, but completely opposite was Amy Jones who struck 4 boundaries to see England win the contest by 7 wickets. Amy Jones and Nat Sciver remained unbeaten on scores of 18(10) and 7(15) respectively. For New Zealand, Amelia Kerr with a couple to her name topped the wickets chart and had Fran Jonas with 1 to her name follow.
England make it three wins from three and will face India next in the semi-finals. #CricketTwitter #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/XUs273zFMH
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) August 4, 2022
New Zealand wouldn’t complain about the batting collapse in this contest as it is a good wake-up call ahead of the semifinals where they are set to play Australia. Whereas, England with a win more in the T20I format makes it 6 straight wins for this summer who are now due to play India in their semifinal contest.