ENG vs NZ: Sophie Ecclestone Grabs Fifer As England Register Comfortable Win

With a 2-0 lead in their three-match ODI series, England secured their dominance over New Zealand with a first international century from Maia Bouchier and a five-wicket haul from Sophie Ecclestone.

For the second occasion in a row, Ecclestone’s 5 for 25 from nine overs helped bowl New Zealand out for a low total; this time, they were bundled out for 141 in 41.5 overs, and Bouchier guided England through with 25.3 overs remaining.

Like in the first game of the series in Durham when they were all out for 156, only four New Zealand batsmen, led by Amelia Kerr’s 43, scored in double digits, but it didn’t appear to be nearly enough. With 10 maidens between them, England’s bowlers kept New Zealand pinned, and Amelia had to face 10 deliveries in seven overs to score her final three runs.
Kate Cross and Lauren Filer made early cuts that left New Zealand struggling at 10 for 2 in the sixth over.

Ecclestone joined the attack in the twelfth over, but it wasn’t until the eighteenth that she ended the calm 46 in 72 balls that Sophie Devine and Amelia had been sharing. Devine was drawn well down the pitch by Ecclestone’s beautifully flighted delivery, which then dipped and turned to beat the bat as Amy Jones whipped off the bails.

After Maddy Green faced 28 balls for her four runs, she lofted the last ball of Cross’s allotment to long on, doubling her total. Charlie Dean ended a 58-run stand with Kerr when he pinned Green on the pad with a ball that twisted sharply from outside off stump when she was 30 off 48.

After being dismissed, Brooke Halliday came to bat. Despite her lacklustre performance, Halliday’s half-century was the high point of New Zealand’s hitters’ nine-wicket loss on Wednesday. However, Halliday was unable to continue her innings after being dismissed on 6 as she attempted to sweep a pitch from Ecclestone that clattered into off stump.

In the subsequent over, Ecclestone took two wickets in four balls and three wickets overall when she bowled Lauren Down for a duck with a superb ball that swerved over the bat and struck the top of the middle stump. That ended before it had started, Down’s first public appearance abroad since giving birth to daughter Ruby in January.

Amelia scored with 86 balls faced, surpassing 2000 career ODI runs in the process, but her innings was unremarkable as she was removed by Dean after a return catch, part of a collapse that saw seven wickets fall for 27 runs in 10.4 overs. Ecclestone also got rid of Molly Penfold and Izzy Gaze during that period.

With just her fifth delivery of the day, Alice Capsey claimed the final wicket when she trapped Jess Kerr slog-sweeping to deep midwicket by Nat Sciver-Brunt for 14.
After Jess struck the pad with a ball that moved in but appeared to be tracking down the leg side, Tammy Beaumont was declared not out lbw, surviving New Zealand’s review.

Similar to what happened in Durham, Beaumont and Bouchier scored 73 runs in 80 balls to shatter the target. Here Bouchier took over, even more so after Beaumont was run out for 28 by the narrowest of margins. Beaumont was caught short despite the dive when Bouchier struck Amelia to cover, where Suzie Bates retrieved and gave the ball back to the bowler.

After Beaumont was dismissed, Bouchier, who was on 42 at the time, hit five boundaries in eight balls, four of them off one over from Devine. Shortly before Heather Knight hit Halliday for the game’s lone six, over deep square leg, she smacked another off Amelia through the leg side. Knight was out on nine, spooning a straight Halliday to Amelia at midwicket.

Bouchier was on 92 when she attempted a Jess delivery, which struck the back pad low down. The umpire rejected New Zealand’s review, allowing the century to stay on the board.

After Bouchier skied the next ball, which fell short of long-off, she and Sciver-Brunt raced to two wickets each, surpassing her previous record of ninety-five, which she had achieved in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in September of last year.

Sciver-Brunt stopped Penfold’s last four balls, including a full toss, with four runs needed to win, allowing Bouchier to strike. After running two deliveries, Bouchier tucked Jess’s first one to a backward square leg. Subsequently, a dot ball that was nudged in the direction of the point was struck by Bouchier, who then set off for the final two runs required to reach her ton and seal England’s triumph.

Brief scores: England vs New Zealand 2nd ODI

New Zealand 141 in 41.5 overs (Amelia Kerr 43; Sophie Ecclestone 5-25, Charlie Dean 2-35) lost to England 142/2 in 24.3 overs (Maia Bouchier 100*) by eight wickets.

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