Wellington, Mar 7: England’s bowlers came to the rescue in the third T20I against
New Zealand to wrap up a whitewash of the hosts.
Held to 129/9 after being sent out to bat, England bounced back with the ball to bowl
New Zealand out for 96.
New Zealand went into the chase as favourites but got off to the worst possible start as
Katherine Brunt struck twice in the first over for England. The veteran seamer trapped
Sophie Devine in front for a duck on the second ball of the innings, and then did the same
to Hayley Jensen (0) at the end of the over. Brunt would finish with figures of 2/19 to be
named Player of the Match.
Amy Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr put the White Ferns back on track from there but the
chase fell apart when Sarah Glenn broke the 36-run partnership in the eighth over.
Glenn had Satterthwaite stumped for 25, and that was the first of seven wickets to fall in
the space of six overs. Kerr (18) fell in the same fashion to Sophie Ecclestone (2/19) in
the ninth over, and Maddy Villiers had Katey Martin (3) caught in the next.
Freya Davies (1/7) got in on the action to bowl Brooke Halliday (7) in the 11th, before
Villiers (3/10) picked up two more in the 12th, accounting for Kate Ebrahim (0) and Leigh
Kasperek (0). When Ecclestone bowled Jess Kerr (3) in the 13th over, New Zealand had
slumped from 37/2 to 63/9.
Maddy Green (20) and Rosemary Mari (13*) managed to keep New Zealand in the chase
a bit longer, putting on 33 runs for the 10th wicket before Green fell to Nat Sciver in the 18th
over.
Earlier, England were left frustrated as six of their batters were dismissed in single digits.
Danni Wyatt (3) was the first batter out, caught spectacularly by Amelia in the third over
off the bowling of Mair (1/17), taking it behind her head running backwards. She took another
great catch to remove Tammy Beaumont (14) in the sixth over, handing Devine the first of
three wickets.
Things were looking grim when Sciver (9) was run out in the seventh over, but England
recovered thanks to a 36-run stand between Amy Jones and Sophia Dunkley.
However, Jones’ dismissal, caught-and-bowled for 15 by Devine (3/30), triggered another mini-collapse as Dunkley (26) and Brunt (3) each fell to Amelia (1/28) in the 14th over,
leaving England in trouble at 84/6.
An unbeaten 31 from Fran Wilson took them past 100 from there and ultimately to a
winning total.
Brief score:
England – 129/9
New Zealand – 96. (UNI)