Amy Jones, Charlie Dean, and pacers shine as England snatch the 1st ODI by four wickets to go 1-0 up in the series.
The England women’s team, led by skipper Heather Knight dominated the five-match T20I series (4-1) against hosts New Zealand. The caravan now moves on to the three-match ODI series.
England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and opted to field first in the first ODI against New Zealand at Basin Reserve, in Wellington. After being inserted to bat first, the New Zealand openers Suzie Bates and Bernadine Bezuidenhout got off to a solid start, scoring over 4 runs an over before Charlie Dean broke the 90-run opening stand by picking up the wicket of Suzie Bates to provide the first breakthrough for England. Bernadine Bezuidenhout soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for England.
Georgia Plimmer joined the stand-in skipper Amelia Kerr at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 39-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Kate Cross picked up the wicket of Georgia Plimmer to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. The home side, New Zealand suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 20 runs. Hannah Rowe joined wicket-keeper batter Isabella Gaze at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 32-run partnership for the 7th wicket before Nat Sciver-Brunt picked up the wicket of Hannah Rowe to provide the 7th breakthrough for England.
New Zealand were eventually bundled out for 207 with 10 balls to spare. They suffered another mini collapse as they lost their last three wickets for just 16 runs. Suzie Bates (50 off 74 balls), Bernadine Bezuidenhout (35 off 62 balls), and stand-in skipper Amelia Kerr (24 off 36 balls) were the top performers with the bat for New Zealand. Kate Cross (10-3-24-2), Lauren Bell (9.2-0-41-3), Charlie Dean (9-0-57-3), and Sophie Ecclestone (10-0-39-1) were the top performers with the ball for England. The 23-year-old off-spinner Charlie Dean broke the 37-year-old record by becoming the fastest bowler to take 50 ODI wickets. She managed to achieve the feat in just 26 matches.
Chasing a target of 208, England got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of the opening batter Tammy Beaumont for a duck in the first over of the run chase. Jess Kerr provided the first breakthrough for New Zealand. Skipper Heather Knight joined Maia Bouchier at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 37-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Jess Kerr came back and picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Heather Knight to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Nat Sciver-Brunt joined Maia Bouchier at the crease and the duo stitched a 17-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Lea Tahuhu picked up the wicket of Maia Bouchier to provide the 3rd breakthrough for New Zealand. The visitors, England suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 25 runs, bringing the home side, New Zealand storming back into the contest. Charlie Dean joined wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones at the crease when England was in deep trouble at 79/6 in the 17th over of the run chase.
The duo saw through the tough phase and slowly kept chipping away at the target and eventually took their side over the line with a 130-run 7th wicket partnership with four wickets in hand and 52 balls to spare. It is the highest 7th-wicket partnership in Women’s ODIs surpassing the 122-run partnership between Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar against Pakistan on 6th March 2022 in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand. Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (92 off 83 balls), Charlie Dean (42 off 70 balls), and Maia Bouchier (31 off 31 balls) were the top performers with the bat for England. Amelia Kerr (10-0-46-2), Jess Kerr (10-1-48-2), and Lea Tahuhu (10-1-56-1) were the top performers with the ball for New Zealand.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational performance (92* off 83 balls) with the bat, rescuing her side from a tricky position in the run chase and eventually taking her side over the line as England went 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The 2nd ODI of the series will be played on 4th April 2024 at Seddon Park, Hamilton, from 3:30 am IST.