Kent trio celebrate England ODI series win in New Zealand
Saturday 28th February 2015
All three of Kent's England players and Sarah Taylor inspired England as they completed a comprehensive five-wicket win in the decisive fifth one-day international at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval to take the series 3-2, writes Martin Davies.
Having been 2-1 down when they moved down to the South Island at the beginning of this week, Taylor produced a second match-winning knock in as many innings as the tourists chased down 231.
After winning a seventh toss in eight games, Kent and England captain Charlotte Edwards invited the White Ferns to bat first but England made a disastrous start to their pursuit – losing Heather Knight for lbw for a duck to Lea Tahuhu in the first over.
Edwards and Taylor steadied the ship, adding 58 for the second wicket in good time, before Edwards tried to work Sophie Devine into the leg-side and was given out lbw for 20 off 31 balls.
Dani Wyatt, making her first ODI appearance of the tour, could only add 7 to the total before she too was out leg before, this time sweeping at Georgia Guy.
Taylor, having been batting with her usual freedom, decided to rein herself in and she and Kent’s Lydia Greenway steadily accumulated 43 for the fourth wicket.
The Kent Cricket Academy graduate hit three boundaries before being deceived by a slower ball from Kate Broadmore and was bowled for 23 off 37 balls.
Nat Sciver and Taylor took England through the troublesome middle overs: the former finishing unbeaten on her highest ODI score to date of 65 as she calmly took England past the required total with five overs to spare.
Having been dropped on 79, Taylor looked to be coasting towards a well-deserved hundred, when she took 15 runs off one Devine over to move her score into the nineties.
But in the next over she took on the arm of Amy Satterthwaite on the deep cover boundary and was run out for a player-of-the-match-winning 93.
England could have wobbled at 171 for 5 but Sciver and Katherine Brunt, who made an unbeaten 19, kept the scoreboard ticking over and eased England over the line.
New Zealand’s innings had got off to a great start thanks to skipper Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest as they took 34 off the first five overs, including five boundaries.
It looked like it was going to be a long day in the field for England, but Bates slashed Becky Grundy to Kent all-rounder Laura Marsh at cover in her first over for 18.
In her next set of six, Priest propped the same bowler to Sciver at short extra cover to depart for 19, and when Kate Cross cartwheeled Satterthwaite’s leg stump out of the ground the White Ferns were 53 for 3 in the 12th over.
Kate Broadmore briefly supported Devine before she played across the line to Marsh and was lbw for nine.
Marsh had got herself into a good rhythm and was tying the batters down – a smart bit of wicket-keeping by Taylor accounting for the advancing Sara McGlashan, playing in a record 126th ODI for the White Ferns.
At 101 for 5 England had the upper hand, but another decent middle-order partnership between Devine (58) and Katie Perkins, who finished unbeaten on 70 off 88 balls, helped the White Ferns post 230 for 8 at the close of their innings.
Together they added 65 for the sixth wicket before Devine skied Sciver to Cross at mid-off, where she safely pouched the catch.
Perkins lost the company of Anna Peterson and Erin Bermingham in quick succession to Cross and Grundy respectively, but she and Tahuhu took the score from 197 for 8 to 230 for 8 at the close, with some lusty blows, as Edwards juggled her death bowlers around.
It was Perkins’ best ODI score in her 30th match for the White Ferns, while Grundy was the pick of the England bowlers with 3-36. There were two wickets apiece for Marsh and Cross.
Pembury-born Marsh finished with figures of two for 32 off 10 overs, the most economical bowler in the contest.
England add victory in the ODI series to the T20 series they won 2-1; their next opponents are the Australians in the Women’s Ashes in July.
Photo: Don Miles/ECB
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