Knight comes to England’s aid as they sweep New Zealand 5-0

Heather Knight had said after the fourth Twenty20 International against New Zealand that England intended to go through their home summer unbeaten, and the last game at Lord’s required a timely captain’s knock to make sure that happened.

The hosts, who were 87 for 6 in the 13th over, were stabilised by Knight’s unbeaten 46 off 31 balls. Knight and Charlie Dean had a 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket, which helped the hosts reach 155 for 7. That was even though spinner Eden Carson had taken 2 for 35 and Fran Jonas had claimed career-best figures of 4 for 22 from her four overs, leaving England reeling.

Though the White Ferns’ batting problems continued until the very end, England’s bowlers made gains at the appropriate periods, with Lauren Bell taking three wickets, Freya Kemp taking two, and Dean taking one apiece. Their 43 off 36 balls was unable to prevent the hosts from winning by 20 runs.

With one washout in the second ODI against Pakistan in Taunton, England’s 5-0 thumping in the T20I series meant they won all 13 matches that were completed against New Zealand and Pakistan.

The Jonas touch

The crowd fell silent when left-arm spinner Jonas produced an odd first ball of the match that was begging to be smashed for six by Danni Wyatt, but instead dropped tamely in Amelia Kerr’s hands at deep midwicket, giving New Zealand a wicket. Despite Tahuhu’s desperate leap, Maia Bouchier smashed the opening ball back over the bowler’s head for four, taking her eight runs from nine balls. Moments later, Tahuhu had Alice Capsey covered with a catch-and-bowl, but the ball bounced out of her outstretched right hand and went to the boundary. Capsey hit his first of two fours in the over, which resulted in a total of 14 runs scored.

In the fourth over, Jonas took another wicket when Bouchier chipped to mid-on with the first ball of her second over, putting England at 28 for 2. For her next wicket, Jonas had to wait until the second ball of her third over, but it was her best—a brilliant return catch that saw her fling out her right hand nearly behind her in her follow-through to remove Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Carson chimes in

Capsey ran down the field to meet a full toss and hoisted it over mid-off for four balls, two balls after getting hit on the head by a slower ball from Sophie Devine. This put her team at 40 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. Nevertheless, off-spinner Carson took Jonas’s lead and hit the first ball following Sciver-Brunt’s removal.

Carson, who was initially scheduled to sit out the game due to a back injury sustained during the warm-up by Leigh Kasperek, tricked Capsey down the field with a beautifully timed ball that landed on a decent length and beat the bat just as Izzy Gaze pulled off the bails. During her subsequent over, Carson had Amy Jones caught by Maddy Green at long on, and England stammered to 77 for 5. Before she could finish, Jonas gave her a stark reminder of the beginning of it all by bowling Kemp with a ball that skidded on and clanked into the centre and leg.

Knight to the rescue

Knight had not caused any harm to her squad by remaining silent throughout the visit from New Zealand. She was undefeated in the first ODI following a century opening stand between Tammy Beaumont and Bouchier, but she scored nine in the other two. She hadn’t reached 15, but she missed the third Twenty20 International as England rehearsed several scenarios in Canterbury, even though she wasn’t really needed at Southampton or The Oval.

She stepped up to provide that vital partnership with Dean, who made 24 off 19 balls, when it was greatly needed. After hitting Carson for four with her fourth boundary, Knight struck a massive six over long on with the next ball in the eighteenth over, which ended at fifteen. Knight and Sophie Ecclestone made sure there was no more harm when Dean went down to a return catch made by Jess Kerr.

No respite for White Ferns

The bowler pushed out her foot before the ball hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Suzie Bates out of her crease. Georgia Plimmer then blasted a Bell delivery back down the pitch, but Bates survived because the umpires ruled that the replays were not clear enough to determine whether the ball struck Bell’s boot. However, Plimmer was overtaken shortly after, capping an unsatisfactory trip in which she failed to surpass 29 and only touched double figures twice. Not long after, Bates lost, top-edging Lauren Filer to Sciver-Brunt at the halfway point.

As New Zealand reached 31 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, they had faced 23 dot balls. After Devine holed out to Bouchier, Kemp carried on the success for England’s seamers, leaving Amelia Kerr and Brooke Halliday to rescue their team from the precarious situation. By the time New Zealand required 53 off 26, Bell had broken their union on 40 from 31 balls when she had Halliday grasping for a wide one to be caught behind. In the last over, Bell bowled Gaze with a slower ball, proving that the White Ferns were out of luck after Dean and Jones combined to remove Amelia Kerr, who was stumped for 43.