Image Credit- Getty
In dramatic fashion,
New Zealand saved the T20I series when England seemed to be winning after a
brilliant innings from Maia Bouchier, led by a captain’s performance by Sophie
Devine.
With eight wickets remaining, Devine removed Bouchier, and the middle order
created a major mess, forcing the visitors to need 30 off 30 balls. After
Amelia Kerr ran Heather Knight out, Amy Jones was taken out. Suzie Bates bowled
her first over of the match in the final over, bringing the total needed to
eight, and she managed to get her team over the finish line.
After both openers
left the game, England was once again threatening to strangle New Zealand’s
innings, despite their strong powerplay that saw them reach 40 without losing.
Devine and Kerr first stood their ground before the captain began to show her
strength, taking 15 off Linsey Smith’s last over, among other things.
While Gibson finished the innings with a fantastic final over that cost just
four runs to keep New Zealand under 160, Devine’s fifty came off 30 balls when
she lofted Dean for her second six of the innings. They scored 90 runs off
their second ten overs and 55 off their final five overs overall, however
Devine did wonder whether they could have scored more runs a little earlier in
the game.
Rosemary Mair hit a
straight drive that put Sophia Dunkley out of the game in the second over, but
Bouchier gave England the early advantage by hitting Mair for four straight
boundaries in the fifth over. at the powerplay’s conclusion. England had a strong
60 against 1.
Bouchier was really brilliant today, hitting her maiden T20I fifty off 33 balls
after struggling to fully get through the gears in the prior two games. She hit
11 fours and one six overall, accounting for 50 of her 71 runs scored through boundaries.
With 92 runs in 61
balls, she and Tammy Beaumont provided England with the foundation from which
they should have won. However, New Zealand began to squeeze when Beaumont found
mid-off, and Knight was unable to reach the same level of fluency as in the previous
games. When Devine took Bouchier out of the picture, her team had the
advantage, but it still took a tremendous effort to win.
A little debate
erupted around the final ball of Devine’s penultimate over, which appeared to
be a wide but was called, much to Danielle Gibson’s dismay. Devine tossed the
ball to the seasoned Bates, who had not been used once in the innings,
realising that England needed to score eight runs off the final over.
After Holly Armitage was substituted in for Sarah Glenn due to a concussion,
Bates took her out of the game. Then, as Charlie Dean swung and missed on the
final delivery, Bates closed the gap even though she had missed the opportunity
to run Dean out.