White Ferns lose second England T20 despite returning stars

The White Ferns have lost the second T20 to England in Nelson this afternoon despite being bolstered by the return of some star players.

The loss came after a dominant early New Zealand bowling display had England on the ropes, before a late batting blitz by the visitors saw them post a decent total.

The White Ferns batting innings flipped the English one on its head, getting off to a good start before falling apart in the later overs.

First innings

White Ferns captain Sophie Devine won the toss and decided to bowl first on what she called a “consistent wicket” that was difficult to predict a par score on.

England captain Heather Knight admitted she would also have chosen to have a bowl if her side had won the toss.

The White Ferns welcomed back Devine and all-rounder Melie Kerr as they looked to level the five-match series after losing the opener.

Devine’s comeback was immediately successful, as England opener Sophia Dunkley chipped a simple catch straight to Brooke Halliday at mid-wicket from Devine’s first ball in the second over. That left the visitors on the backfoot at 3-1.

After the early breakthrough, Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier steadied the ship, scoring freely to leave England at 31-1 in the fifth over. However, Devine struck again in the sixth, clean bowling the dangerous Beaumont on 19 runs off 13 deliveries.

Bouchier soon followed Beaumont back to the pavilion, lobbing up an easy catch off the bowling of Rosemary Mair to leave England floundering on 36 -3 in the eighth over.

England’s captain Knight then came to the crease and stepped up the pace along with Amy Jones. However, just as the partnership was starting to look dangerous Jones holed out from the bowling of Lea Tahuhu, with Maddy Green taking the catch.

At the halfway mark of the innings, England’s batters were stuttering at 57-4.

After another brief flurry of runs it was Kerr’s turn to make an impact, clean bowling Danielle Gibson for 14 runs to leave England at 74-5 in the 13th.

A review saw England’s woes compounded further, as Bess Heath was found to have nicked the ball through to keeper Izzy Gaze from the bowling of Fran Jones after originally not being given out.

Knight then hoisted the English batting effort on her back, dispatching the Kiwi bowlers around Saxton Oval to push the visitors towards a defendable total.

Her partners continued to fall around her, with Charlie Dean bowled by Mair in the 19th over with England at 122-7.

Knight’s brave knock saw her reach 50 runs off just 37 balls.

Devine was expensive in the final over, conceding 18 runs in an over which included a no ball.

England’s fight back meant the White Ferns needed to score 150 for victory in the second innings.

Second innings

White Ferns openers Suzie Bates and Bernadine Bezuidenhout got the team off to a flying start with 8 runs off the first over. The second over didn’t start well, as Bezuidenhout was run out by Sarah Glenn for just one run.

Melie Kerr was the next batter to the crease and quickly put together a fast-moving partnership with Bates. However, it was broken in the fifth over as Bates swept an easy catch straight to Lauren Bell off the bowling of Linsey Smith.

Bates racked up 19 runs off 13 balls as her promising looking innings came to an end. The wicket left the White Ferns at 35-1.

It left the two comeback players Devine and Kerr finding themselves in a tricky situation as they looked to get the chase back on track.

The pair managed to put on 21 runs before Devine had a wild swing at a Charlie Dean delivery and was given out with a plumb LBW.

The experienced Maddy Green was next to partner Kerr at the crease, with the run rate creeping up to more than 8 an over in the 13th. Kerr put her foot down with a couple of sweetly struck boundaries as they looked to accelerate.

The charge didn’t last long though, as Kerr tried a cheeky ramp on 44 runs over the keeper that was easily swallowed up by Bell off the bowling of Gibson.

The wickets kept coming as Halliday fell soon after for just one run in a caught and bowled by Sarah Glenn, leaving the White Ferns on 101-5 in the 16th over.

From there the wickets came fast, with two in the 17th over as Bell tore through the lower order.

The run chase slipped out of the White Ferns grasp, with a final wicket eventually seeing the Kiwi side end their innings at 134-8, 16 runs short of the total needed.

England now lead the five-match T20 series 2-0. The sides will meet again on Sunday afternoon at the same Saxton Oval ground in Nelson.

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