Key events
James Wallace
Righto, that’s it from me, I’m off to wade through the freezer drawer in search of a 2024 vintage Solero.
Congratulations to England, they’ll be back in action on Thursday for the first T20 against India from Chelmsford, do join us for that one. Goodbye!
Victorious stand in captain Charlie Dean has the final say:
That was a brilliant win for the girls today, it definitely makes my job easier when we pick up early wickets. We learnt from the Canterbury game to be ruthless…
We had a different formula in the PowerPlay today and it’s a credit to those girls. The seam bowling all-rounders bring so much, to have them in the squad really balances our team. The girls are really chuffed to be contributing.
T20 cricket is a dynamic, high energy game and we try to bring real purpose with our fielding.”
New Zealand captain Amelia Kerr:
Yeah, it’s a really disappointing way to finish. We’ve played some really good cricket in the series.
But it’s better to get a performance like this out of the way now, than during the World Cup. We are losing too many wickets early, and losing them in clusters so we need to get better at starting well. We bat deep which is exciting but we need to improve in the PowerPlay.
There are a lot of positives to take, I’ve been really happy with our efforts in the field and Nensi Patel and Bree Illing have been exceptional with the ball but we don’t want to rely on one or two players in the World Cup.”
Dani Gibson scoops Player of the Match for her 3-14:
There’s been a bit of a time out of the game, but to be back and making an impact is great. To get it done with the ball today feels really good, I was just happy to be out there.”
England’s Linsey Smith is Player of the Series
She took six wickets at a miserly 8.33
I think backing my strengths, something that’s worked for me is being really clinical in the powerplay, trying to not leave the stumps a lot and apply a lot of pressure.
Towards the back end they’re looking for a lot more boundaries, so try not to be too predictable and get a few variations out.
It’s really important in T20s to control our inputs and energy and trust each other. We’ve had a really good series in the field.”
A grim statistic for the White Ferns: England have now won the last seven bilateral T20I series against them
England win by 7 wickets (with 37 balls remaining)
Freya Kemp cuts Bree Illing for four and then hits the winning runs to get England over the line with plenty of runs and wickets to spare. That’s a pounding for New Zealand who will be so disappointed to play so timidly after getting themselves back in the series in the last match. A nice confidence boost and bit of momentum for England ahead of the India series and then their home world cup.
13th over: England 73-3 (Bouchier 18, Kemp 1) Freya Kemp joins Bouchier with England needing eight more to claim the series.
WICKET! Heather Knight c Patel b A Kerr 18 (England 71-3)
Knight looks to get on with it, dancing down to Kerr and lofting a full toss over cover for four. She then middles a reverse-sweep… but straight to Patel at backward point.
12th over: England 67-2 (Bouchier 18, Knight 14) Shot! That’s more like it Heather! Knight advances and drives Mair beautifully down the ground through mid on for four.
11th over: England 61-2 (Bouchier 18, Knight 9) Nensi Patel is a real find for New Zealand, she whizzes through her over for just a couple of runs. England do not look in a hurry.
10th over: England 59-2 (Bouchier 17, Knight 8) The drop seams to spark some life into England, Bouchier clubs the returning Jess Kerr for four through midwicket. Knight paddles for two and the two batters hustle and bustle singles to make it ten off the over. Heads dropping for New Zealand now, they haven’t turned up in this deciding game. England need 22 to win.
9th over: England 49-2 (Bouchier 11, Knight 5) Drop! Brooke Halliday spills Heather Knight off Amelia Kerr at square leg. Oh no, a top edge from a paddle sweep and should have been swallowed but the ball went in and plooped out onto the turf.
8th over: England 41-2 (Bouchier 7, Knight 3) England aren’t exactly razzing this run chase in style. Illing beats Knight twice outside off stump with consecutive deliveries. Knight then has a big heave at the next aiming a flat batted pull but she connects only with sea air. A clip to midwicket is the only run off the over. England need 40 more. No you stop it.
7th over: England 40-2 (Bouchier 7, Knight 2) Amelia Kerr brings herself on for some leggies and relinquishes just four singles from her first over.
WICKET! Sophia Dunkley c Mair b Illing 22 (England 36-2)
It turns out out Alice Capsey’s lbw would have been overturned had she reviewed, the ball was drifting a decent way past leg stump. It doesn’t look like it is going to matter in the grand scheme.
Dunkley crunches Bree Illing through midwicket for four but the bowler has the last laugh a few balls later when Dunkley plops a length ball straight to mid on.
6th over: England 36-2 (Bouchier 5, Knight 0)
5th over: England 30-1 (Dunkley 17, Bouchier 4) Dunkley is so strong through the off, the returning Rose Mair gives her width and is flayed away to the square point fence. England need 51 more.
4th over: England 25-1 (Dunkley 12, Bouchier 4) Jess Kerr into the attack. She strays too straight and Dunkley doesn’t miss out, lapping fine for four runs. A wide and a scurried single brings Bouchier on strike. She clips off her pads nicely for two to keep England chipping away.
3rd over: England 16-1 (Dunkley 8, Bouchier 1) Maia Bouchier is in at three. She pushes down on to long on and takes a single. Dunkley aims cover drive but under edges, the ball beats the keeper and runs away for four. Some teams have all the luck.
WICKET! Alice Capsey lbw b Patel 3 (England 11-1)
Capsey misses a sweep from Nensi Patel’s first ball and the umpire gives it! Capsey is on her way and New Zealand have their first.
2nd over: England 11-0 (Capsey 3, Dunkley 4) Bree Illing shares the new ball, she’s targeting the pads of both openers but Dunkley and Capsey are strong off them, clipping away to keep ticking over.
1st over: England 5-0 (Capsey 2, Dunkley 1) Oh dear, Mair over steps with her first ball to gift a Free Hit to England. Fortunately for her Capsey can’t time the freebie and serves only to cue end a single. England’s opening pair look sharp between the stumps but can’t find the boundary in the first over.
Here come Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey for England. Can they make short work of this chase? Rosemary Mair will start with the new ball for New Zealand – wickets needed. Play!
New Zealand bowled out for 80!
Charlie Dean nicks off Illing and that’s it – England have skittled New Zealand for just 80 runs, they’ll chase 81 to win the game and take the series. Apologies, they *should* chase 81 to win the game and take the series.
19th over: New Zealand 80-9 (Mair 4, Illing 3) Illing and Mair rotate to eke out five runs off Dani Gibson’s final over – the golden armed all-rounder finishes with 3-14 off her four overs. Here comes Charlie Dean with the final over of the innings…
18th over: New Zealand 75-9 (Mair 2, Illing 1) Bree Illing is New Zealand’s last batter. Can Wong finish the job? Err no. She scuds one too straight, it hits the pads and races away for four leg byes. The Kiwi’s need everything they can get.
WICKET! Jess Kerr b Wong 20 (New Zealand 69-9)
Bamboozled by the slower ball! Issy Wong enjoyed that one, the back of the hand deceit does Jess Kerr like a kipper.
17th over: New Zealand 69-8 (J Kerr 20, Mair 1) Sophie Ecclestone rattles through her final over to finish with 1-11 off her four overs. Prettay good.
16th over: New Zealand 65-8 (J Kerr 18, Mair 0) Rose Mair joins Jess Kerr in the middle, they need to find a few boundaries to get to even a barely competitive total.
WICKET! Nensi Patel lbw b Smith 2 (New Zealand 68-8)
Gibson pins Patel and it looks stone dead. So plumb that the batter doesn’t choose to review… ouch! If she had done it would have been overturned as the impact was just outside the line. One of those days for the White Ferns it seems…
15th over: New Zealand 59-7 (J Kerr 13, Patel 1) A replay of the Bouchier catch brings appreciative ooohs and ahhhs from the home fans sweltering away at Hove. A short, exciting match and an England win is just what is no bad thing in this weather, plenty of time to hit the beer garden and the beach to toast the series victory… I’m getting ahead of myself and of course remain impartial at all times. I think I speak for all OBO scribes though when I say a quick game is always a good game.
WICKET! Maddy Green c Bouchier b Gibson 14 (New Zealand 58-7)
Gibson gets another courtesy of a wonderful catch by Bouchier haring back from midwicket and plucking out one handed over her shoulder. They are the hardest to take, Charlotte Edwards will be very happy seeing that sort of catch taken after England have looked sloppy in the field this summer despite doing loads of work to improve.
14th over: New Zealand 57-6 (Green 14, J Kerr 12) Dean brings herself back on for her third. Jess Kerr sweeps powerfully to pick up four on the leg side. Dean won’t mind though, she has 2-13 from her three overs and is in full control of this deciding match of the series.
13th over: New Zealand 48-6 (Green 12, J Kerr 5) Dani Gibsom replaces Ecclestone, just two off the over until the final ball when Maddy Green breaks the shackles and hits the first boundary in eight overs. One step and bosh down the ground.
12th over: New Zealand 42-6 (Green 7, J Kerr 4) Linsey Smith does her thing and its a pleasure to watch. I’m really looking forward to her doing this in the world cup next month. She spears and floats in yorkers from wide on the crease, so hard to get away. She has 1-9 from her three overs. Decent, Decent, Lemon, Decent.
11th over: New Zealand 39-6 (Green 5, J Kerr 3) Ecclestone loves these situations, she keeps the pressure right on with a probing over that results in just two singles. Linsey Smith is coming back two, nice and aggressive captaincy from Charlie Dean.
10th over: New Zealand 37-6 (Green 2, J Kerr 0) Wong returns and bustles through the tenth over. The Kiwi’s don’t lose a wicket (phew) and nudge four singles. Time for a drink, England may as well crack out the gin, they’ve just taken four wickets for four runs in 15 deliveries.
9th over: New Zealand 33-6 (Green 2, J Kerr 0) Jess Kerr joins Maddy Green in the middle with a salvage job urgently required.
WICKET! Izzy Sharp b Ecclestone 0 (New Zealand 33-6)
Izzy Sharp comes and goes! A quicker ball from Ecclestone and the batter makes the mistake of going back, beaten for pace and clean bowled. England are rampant.
8th over: New Zealand 32-5 (Green 1) It’s a procession out there…
WICKET! Brooke Halliday lbw b Dean 2 (New Zealand 32-5)
Dean probes away and pins Halliday with a full ball. There’s a huge appeal from the bowler and the keeper but the umpire shakes her head. Has Halliday got a tickle on it? No! The DRS confirms there was no bat, it hit in line and was knocking out middle. England were certain and the review confirms why. Another wicket falls!
7th over: New Zealand 30-4 (Halliday 0…) Stand by, the carnage continues on the south coast!
WICKET! Sophie Devine c Ecclestone b Gibson 0 (New Zealand 30-4)
Gibson strikes for the second time in her first over! Sophie Devine is out and it is bad to worse for the White Ferns in Hove! Another mis-timed stroke goes to Ecclestone on the edge of the ring at mid off. England smell blood and are going in for the kill like La Roux circa 2009.
WICKET! Melie Kerr c Bouchier b Gibson 5 (New Zealand 29-3)
Big moment! Amelia Kerr toe ends a length ball from Dani Gibson straight to Bouchier at mid on. That’s a soft dismissal and New Zealand are in all sorts.
6th over: New Zealand 29-2 (Kerr 5, Devine 0) Sophie Devine is the new batter. She got New Zealand out of a hole in Canterbury and they need her again here. Dean keeps her tied down with three dots to see out the over.
WICKET! Isabella Gaze b Dean 17 (New Zealand 29-1)
The England captain cleans up Izzy Gaze! Lovely bowling, flighted with a hint of turn and goes through the gate to take the bails. Dean enjoyed that one.
5th over: New Zealand 27-1 (Gaze 15, Kerr 5) Ecclestone is on the money, five dots ties down Amelia Kerr. The batter paddles the final ball away fine for four but its a cheap over for England and a thrifty start from their wily left arm spinner.
4th over: New Zealand 23-1 (Gaze 15, Kerr 1) Magnificent batting from Izzy Gaze. She laps Wong over Amy Jones’s head behind the stumps for four and then follows up with a blistering drive over long on for SIX! Charlie Dean is summoning Sophie Ecclestone.
3rd over: New Zealand 12-1 (Gaze 5, Kerr 1) Amelia Kerr arrives at first drop and is off the mark off her first ball with a single down to long on. Gaze then slaps a shorter ball from Smith over midwicket for the first boundary of the game. Some decent cat and mouse between Smith and Gaze, the batter shuffles around her crease and the bowler outfoxes her with a slow and wide yorker slower that Gaze can only get a toe end on. Chalk please.
WICKET! Suzie Bates c Dunkley b Smith 3 (New Zealand 7-1)
Gone! Bates plays a pre-meditated reverse but ends up plinking it straight to Dunkley at backward point.
2nd over: New Zealand 7-0 (Bates 1, Gaze 5) Issy Wong starts from the other end. She’s not as tidy as Smith, a wide and some radar finding deliveries in her first. Gaze gets off the mark with a cut past point and Bates inside edges a good length ball past fine leg for a couple. No boundaries yet for the visitors.
1st over: New Zealand 1-0 (Bates 1, Gaze 0) It will be interesting to see how this surface plays, England opt to start with the miserly Smith and her medium pace spinners… she’s so good, tying Bates down for five consecutive dots before a drive to mid on get New Zealand under way eventually. Quiet start.
The players take the field, plenty of zinc on faces and sun hats and sombrero’s in the stands. Linsey Smith has the new ball in hand for England. Suzie Bates and Izzy Gaze to open up for the White Ferns. Play!
Teams:
England: Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Amy Jones (wk), Charlie Dean (c), Sophie Ecclestone Izzy Wong, Linsey Smith
New Zealand: Izzy Gaze (wk), Suzie Bates, 3 Melie Kerr (c), Sophie Devine, Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Izzy Sharp, Jess Kerr, Nensi Patel, Rosemary Mair, Bree Illing
Lauren Bell put her feet up for England – Sophie Ecclestone comes in.
For New Zealand – Suzie Bates replaced the beleagured Georgia Plimmer who has made two consecutive golden ducks. Rosemary Mair is back in for Leah Tahuhu.
New Zealand win the toss and will bat first
Melie Kerr calls the coin correctly and decides to have first use of a sun baked pitch.
“We’ll try and have a better start than last time,” she says after her side were tottering at 11-4 in the previous match in Canterbury. The still managed to win though, largely thanks to the experienced hands of Sophie Devine who made an assured 87 with support from a half century scoring Maddy Green. An all round bowling effort then restricted England’s chase and saw them fall 14 runs short. Today it is winner takes all.
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to the deciding T20 between England and New Zealand from Hove.
It’s crackin t’flags eh?
The sun is beating down on the south coast and the mercury is hovering around 31 degrees for this third and final encounter.
The team captains are out there in the middle and about to toss the coin…
The match begins at 14.30, as ever please do get in touch with your hopes and dreams thoughts and theories at the link on the left hand of this page.
Let’s do this.