England continues to exploit New Zealand’s nightmare against spin to keep the visitors winless on the tour.
The England women’s team led by the stand-in skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt sealed the 3rd T20I and the five-match T20I series with a six-wicket victory at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury.
The regular skipper Heather Knight returned to the side to take back the leadership duties from Nat Sciver-Brunt in the 4th T20I. New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine won the toss and opted to bat first. Both sides made a lot of changes in their playing 11. Danielle Wyatt, skipper Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, and Linsey Smith replaced Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Charlotte Dean, and Lauren Filer in the side.
As far as the White Ferns are concerned, Jess Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, and Eden Carson replaced Hannah Rowe, Leigh Kasperek, and Molly Penfold in the side. The New Zealand openers Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates got off to a good start with a 33-run opening partnership, scoring over five runs an over in the powerplay.
The 24-year-old leg-spinner Sarah Glenn struck twice to remove Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr, immediately after the powerplay. New Zealand suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 19 runs. Wicket-keeper batter Isabella Gaze joined Maddy Green at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 28-run partnership for the 6th wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark.
Sarah Glenn returned and picked up Maddy Green’s wicket to provide the 6th breakthrough for England. The White Ferns eventually, just managed to edge past the 100-run mark in their quota of overs. The 21-run 8th wicket partnership between wicket-keeper batter Isabella Gaze and Lea Tahuhu played a crucial role in taking New Zealand past the three-figure mark.
Wicket-keeper batter Isabella Gaze (25 off 24 balls), Maddy Green (24 off 25 balls), Georgia Plimmer (17 off 21 balls), and Suzie Bates (16 off 21 balls) were the top performers with the bat for New Zealand. Sarah Glenn (4-0-19-4), Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-16-2), and Danielle Gibson (3-0-7-1) were the top performers with the ball for England.
Chasing a target of 104, the England openers Danielle Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley got off to a flying start with a 54-run opening stand, scoring over 10 runs an over. The duo scored more than 50% of the target. Lea Tahuhu picked up the wicket of Sophia Dunkley to provide the first breakthrough for New Zealand.
Alice Capsey joined Danielle Wyatt at the crease and the duo stitched a 19-run partnership for the 2nd wicket, taking them closer to the target. The home side had a little bit of a blip in the run chase as they lost two wickets in two balls. Skipper Heather Knight joined Nat Sciver-Brunt at the crease and the duo took their side over the line by seven wickets and 51 balls to spare.
Sophia Dunkley (26 off 16 balls), Danielle Wyatt (26 off 21 balls), Nat Sciver-Brunt (17 off 12 balls), and skipper Heather Knight (14 off 14 balls) were the top performers with the bat for England. Eden Carson (2-0-11-1), Amelia Kerr (2.3-0-23-1), and Lea Tahuhu (2-0-21-1) were the top performers with the ball for New Zealand.
Sarah Glenn was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning performance (4-0-19-4) with the ball. She played a crucial role in helping her side go 4-0 up in the five-match T20I series. The 5th and final T20I of the series will be played on 17th July 2024 at Lord’s London from 10:30 PM IST.
