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29th over: New Zealand 127-3 (Devine 62, Green 14) Green finds an option from Cross, backing away to again run the ball off the face for one. Got to be able to turn over strike against the bowlers you don’t fancy.
28th over: New Zealand 124-3 (Devine 60, Green 13) That’s much better from Green, she’s happier facing Sciver-Brunt. Eases two behind point, then cuts four runs with very little follow-through. Lovely timing. Front foot for the next ball, and drives three more through cover! Much better. She can be a destructive player. Throw in a wide and a couple of Devine singles, and that’s a dozen off the over.
27th over: New Zealand 112-3 (Devine 58, Green 4) This is Maddy Green being defensive, blocking Cross from the crease. Three balls, four, five, the whole over. Right in her shell again. That’s poor batting from a middle-order player.
83 more to win for New Zealand at just past half the overs. They should do this but get Devine out and there’s a vulnerable batting order to follow.
26th over: New Zealand 112-3 (Devine 58, Green 4) In fact it’s the full opening combo, Sciver-Brunt joining Cross with the ball. Devine turns over strike, Green glides two past the keeper, then one to midwicket.
25th over: New Zealand 108-3 (Devine 57, Green 1) Ecclestone off, unsurprisingly. No sense risking her. Cross is back. Green gets going with a glide to deep third.
Half century! Devine 52 from 55 balls24th over: New Zealand 106-3 (Devine 56, Green 0) Blammo goes Devine! Smacks the ball straight back over Dean’s head for four. Dean bowls the next one slow and very wide, it would have been called wide but Devine chases it and manages to get a piece, through cover for four more!
Dot ball, then Dean changes up, spearing the ball in at leg stump with a flat arc, but she can’t get it full enough. Devine goes back and swats one of those behind square for four, then does it again! Four boundaries in five balls.
23rd over: New Zealand 90-3 (Devine 40, Green 0) Here’s a chance for Maddy Green then, who over her last two games has produced two really poor innings. Totally becalmed, hasn’t been able to score.
WICKET! Kerr lbw Ecclestone 31, NZ 90-3What an extraordinary five balls! Ecclestone hurts herself first ball of the over. Innocuous moment, she just bowls and immediately pulls up sore, lifting her front foot from the ground gingerly before ending up on her haunches. The doctor and physio come out and she gets a rub of the calf, then decides to bowl on. Sends down a short one that Kerr cuts for two, then dismisses the set batter! Kerr right back on her stumps, tries to work to leg and misses, and her guilt is made immutable by the fact that the ball lodges between her two pads, right in front of middle stump. It’s like a real-life freeze frame for the umpire, easy.
Impact a touch high but probably taking the bails. They don’t review.
22nd over: New Zealand 87-2 (Kerr 29, Devine 39) Now Devine puts one out of the ground! It’s not a bad ball from Dean either, Devine just pre-empts it and is so far down the pitch that it becomes an easy half-volley. That one goes over midwicket, and two balls later the next goes over long on. One of the ground staff runs off the tractor to take the catch and throw it back. Two massive blows to wake up the crowd.
21st over: New Zealand 73-2 (Kerr 28, Devine 26) Another scoreless over from Ecclestone, though Devine isn’t entirely defensive – at one stage she tries to cut off her stumps after backing away, and the ball bounces over the bails.
20th over: New Zealand 73-2 (Kerr 28, Devine 26) Charlie Dean on with her off spin, and the batters knock a couple of singles. Devine then gets a high full toss that she should be putting onto the hill at the Tron, but somehow she only drags to the boundary rider behind square.
19th over: New Zealand 70-2 (Kerr 27, Devine 24) Ecclestone into her fifth. England need wickets. The partnership passed 50 in that previous over. Ecclestone bowls six dot balls. NZ need 125 from 31 overs.
18th over: New Zealand 70-2 (Kerr 27, Devine 24) Filer bounces Kerr, but Kerr plays the hook shot calmly, two runs to long leg, then lays into a cut shot to another short ball and gets four behind point. Top shot there. Drops and runs a single. Sharing the goodies around, Filer gives Devine the same poor ball that Kerr received, and Devine mimics her teammate, cutting four behind point. Throw in another leg-side wide, and Filer is battling – she’s the fastest but she’s gone for 27 from four overs, nearly seven an over, where everyone else has gone for twos or threes.
17th over: New Zealand 58-2 (Kerr 20, Devine 20) Ecclestone with loop, drawing a miscue towards mid off in the air. Devine survives though and hustles two runs to square leg. Ecclestone drops short, grunting in annoyance through the stump mic, but Devine is also annoyed at not getting four runs, Wyatt again diving behind point to keep her to one.
16th over: New Zealand 54-2 (Kerr 19, Devine 17) Filer down the leg side again, her third wide, this one a short ball. But goes short outside off stump to follow and Devine is dropped. Goes kitchen-sinkwards with her cut shot, big top edge that goes over Heather Knight’s head at slip. Knight gets both hands up but the ball bursts through. Devine looks at her partner, shrugs and smiles cheekily. Gets one run for it, Kerr turns another, then Devine throws her hands through a square drive for two aerial runs. Filer bowls her fourth wide, this one down leg. Drinks.
15th over: New Zealand 47-2 (Kerr 18, Devine 13) Called through for a sharp one, Devine says yes at the non-striker’s end and Kerr is slow to realise, might have been gone had the throw hit. That gets Devine on strike, only for Ecclestone to waste a review with a ball that’s not straightening enough from left-arm around the wicket to take the stumps. Green light on leg stump, going down. They got a leg bye on that to.
14th over: New Zealand 45-2 (Kerr 17, Devine 13) Hard to time shots on the pitch. Devine tries to clobber on the up through cover but misses. Kerr gets real short width from Filer though, and cuts with precision behind point for four. That was a quality shot.
13th over: New Zealand 38-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 12) One run from Ecclestone’s over, as Devine drives down the ground. Other than that, there’s no way through the field.
12th over: New Zealand 37-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 11) Time for speed. Lauren Filer the bowler, played a couple of the T20s on this tour among her handful of England games. Interesting that they keep the speedster for after the fielding restrictions loosen while trusting Sciver-Brunt to keep things tidy up front. Not top pace yet but around 115 kph. Kerr does swish and miss at a couple. Single and a leg bye from the over, Jones diving to save well after the ball flicks the back of Devine’s pad.
11th over: New Zealand 35-2 (Kerr 11, Devine 11) Sophie Ecclestone on to bowl now that the fielding restrictions have lifted. Devine immediately hits the left-arm spinner back over her head for four. Eccles turns one big past the bat as if to remind Devine that she can.
10th over: New Zealand 31-2 (Kerr 11, Devine 6) Top shot from Kerr! Crouches and cover drives, through extra, splitting the field to take four from Sciver-Brunt. The only score from the over. 164 more to win.
9th over: New Zealand 26-2 (Kerr 7, Devine 6) Shot from Kerr, skipping down at Cross and driving through wide long on for four. Late cut for a single, then England volunteer another run for Devine, who pushes to the cover fielder – this time its Charlie Dean giving the overthrow. A pointless shot at the stumps, as hard as she can, though the batter is easily back in her ground, and it reaches keeper Jones as it hits the turf so the keeper can’t stop it.
8th over: New Zealand 20-2 (Kerr 2, Devine 5) Gee, Devine nearly goes in similar fashion to Bates – aims leg side against Sciver-Brunt in the same way, though her edged shot though flies towards deep third instead. It lands in front of the fielder. One run, and a leg bye from Kerr’s pad.
7th over: New Zealand 18-2 (Kerr 2, Devine 4) So it’s been another slow start for NZ, even leaving aside the wickets fallen. They don’t need a fast rate overall but eating up overs doesn’t help those coming in next. Devine steals two runs by drawing a throw at the stumps while floating out of her ground, then hustling on the ricochet. It was Wyatt’s throw from backward point, but Wyatt gets back three runs for her team with a diving stop from a middle cut shot. Devine just runs the one.
6th over: New Zealand 15-2 (Kerr 2, Devine 1) Most of the time for New Zealand in recent years the scoring of runs has been either Bates, Devine, or bust. Sophie Devine has the job ahead of her now, and gets going right away with a drive past the bowler for one.
WICKET! Bates c Bouchier b Sciver-Brunt 6, NZ 14-2Oh, dear. Bates will be annoyed with that one. Looks to go leg-side again after the previous over, but doesn’t time her shot. An unflattering leading edge limps into the air and down towards mid on. Simple catch.
5th over: New Zealand 14-1 (Bates 6, Kerr 2) Elegant from Bates, who whips Cross off her pads through midwicket for four. Picks off another single from a leg glance.
4th over: New Zealand 9-1 (Bates 1, Kerr 2) Suzie Bates finally gets her first run, chopped to deep third. Sciver-Brunt strikes Kerr on the pad but it’s angling down. Inside edge to square leg from the next ball, but the fielder is in the right spot to prevent the run. So Kerr advances and cuts her first two runs well behind point. A very wide ball down the leg side adds an extra.
WICKET! Plimmer c Jones b Cross 4, NZ 5-13rd over: New Zealand 5-1 (Bates 0) There’s some movement for Cross, away from the bat and beating Plimmer! Doesn’t miss off stump by much. Plimmer walks at the next ball to disrupt the bowler, slicing two runs behind point. Cross follows with a yorker that is defended, but last ball of the over Plimmer makes an error – feet rooted, sees some width and is drawn into a push at it, the length isn’t there to drive, and she edges behind.
2nd over: New Zealand 3-0 (Plimmer 2, Bates 0) Nat Sciver-Brunt with her very medium mediums will get the new ball, which is interesting – she’s been mostly bowling first change for a long time. Ties down Bates for a full over, including striking the batter a stinger on the inner thigh.
1st over: New Zealand 3-0 (Plimmer 2, Bates 0) A circumspect start for NZ against Kate Cross, who doesn’t find much swing but is mostly tight on the stumps. Bates gets a leg bye, Plimmer cuts the one looser ball for two runs but defends the rest.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Megan. Ticking our way through the innings break awaiting the chase. This game feels pretty familiar – England’s batting has been unconvincing through much of this tour, and New Zealand have been able to compete in the field, but their own batting has been substantially poorer than England’s. They have a chance here with a low total but England should strongly fancy defending it.
Megan Maurice
Well I’m just about ready to hand over to my wonderful colleague Geoff Lemon, who will see you through New Zealand’s batting innings. You’ll be in very safe hands there! It’s been a fascinating battle so far, but I have a feeling the twists and turns aren’t over just yet and this game has some more in store for us yet. New Zealand has some very experienced and skilled batters, but they haven’t played to their potential so far this series. Brooke Halliday and Izzy Gaze were the pick of the batters last match, while Suzie Bates has been relatively consistent. The key will be to not panic if they lose a couple of wickets early and trust themselves to get back into the match. I’ll leave you now in Geoff’s hands – enjoy the rest of the match!
Lots of very cute homemade signs on the hill today – we love to see it! And not those obnoxious ‘give us your stuff’ signs either – I’ve previously made my thoughts on those clear, so I hope we’re starting to see the end of that trend.
Another great innings from Amy Jones is what really kept England in the match today, will it be enough for the win?
England all out for 194Well, what an interesting innings! Plenty of ups and downs for both teams – England had some strong partnerships – Knight and Sciver-Brunt and then Dean and Jones – but New Zealand found a way to keep fighting their way back into the game and taking wickets. New Zealand were all out for 196 in the last game and 207 in the game before, so they have the runs in them, but only just. England will be disappointed in their batting, but will feel that their bowling can get them over the line here if they do everything right. It’s certainly game on in Hamilton!
WICKET! Ecclestone c Green b J Kerr (England 194)Turns out Jess Kerr had another over left, so I pre-empted that ‘all spin from here’ thing and Kerr wanted to really make me pay for forgetting that she had an over left by taking a wicket. It’s a good length ball that Ecclestone goes after slogging, but it’s straight up in the air and Green catches it easily at long on.