Fans of the New Zealand women’s team finally have something to smile about. After they were beaten in two games on the trot by a rampaging England team, New Zealand has stormed back to win the final match of the ODI series by 7 wickets.
While generally, the team who wins the toss is happier compared to the opposition, this series has proved to be just the opposite. In the previous matches, the White Ferns won the toss, chose to bat, and lost the match. This time, England won the toss, elected to bat first, and ended up on the losing side. Carrying her rich vein of form from the previous matches, Tammy Beaumont started solidly yet again and carried her bat through the innings, scoring 88*.
While all the England batters got a start, none of them, apart from skipper Heather Knight (60) and Beaumont, played a big inning. In the end, England got bowled out for 220 in 47.5 overs with Beaumont stranded at one end just 12 shy of a century. The Kiwi bowlers, led by Amelia Kerr, were spot on in their planning and execution of those plans and didn’t let the absence of Lea Tahuhu, who is ruled out owing to a hamstring injury, reflect in their performance.
🚨 RECORD 🚨
Only the 3rd New Zealander batter to Surpass 4000 ODI Run Milestone.
Congratulations @AmySatterthwait 🥳🙌#NZvENG #nzwvengw pic.twitter.com/JswMHQ7ap5
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 28, 2021
Like a role reversal from the previous two ODIs, this time it was the New Zealand batters who put up a strong performance and the England bowlers who looked hapless in their quest to defend the score their batters had put up on the board. While the Kiwis did falter at the start, with both their openers Natalie Dodd (3) and Hayley Jensen (8) falling for a single-digit score, Amy Satterthwaite played a masterclass of an innings scoring 119* off just 128 balls. She was ably supported by the star with the ball, Amelia Kerr (72*), who was deservingly named the Player of the Match for her all-round performance.
3rd ODI – New Zealand won by 7 Wickets against England.
England : 220/10(47.5)
New Zealand: 223/3(46.4)Amy Satterthwaite : 119*(128)
Amelia Kerr : 72*(88)POTM : Amelia Kerr#NZvENG#NZWVSENGW pic.twitter.com/0AqztYDOiF
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 28, 2021
The focus now shifts to the shortest version of the game- the T20Is, which will be played from 3rd March to 7th March. The venue for the first two matches is Wellington post which the teams will travel to Mount Maunganui to wrap up the series.
Brief Scores-
New Zealand 223-3 (A Satterthwaite 119*, A Kerr 72*; N Sciver 1-35) beat England 220-10 (T Beaumont 88*, H Knight 60; A Kerr 4-42) by 7 wickets.
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