England Women beat New Zealand by six wickets in their first official warm-up game ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
On a good wicket it was England’s bowlers who put them in a position to win the game, restricting New Zealand to just 134/9. Katherine Brunt got England off to a flyer with the dismissal of the dangerous Sophie Devine after just three balls and Anya Shrubsole and Sophie Ecclestone maintained the pressure.
Chasing 135 to win, Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt put on 41 inside the powerplay before Jones was unlucky to bottom-edge an attempted pull on to her stumps.
Wyatt and captain Heather Knight – continuing her recent good form – added 40 to take England most of the way towards the victory. It was Knight who hit the winning runs, with two overs to spare.
Heather Knight: “It was a good pitch so it was a really good performance by our bowlers. Katherine obviously got us off to an excellent start and that was backed up by the rest of the attack.
“Anya bowled very nicely and Sophie looked threatening throughout her overs, which is important because it means we can continue to look to take wickets throughout the innings.
“Jonesy and Danni started nicely and that helped us get in front of the game.
“It’s nice for the confidence to get over the line with just four wickets down. Hopefully we can continue that against Sri Lanka on Tuesday before flying to Perth.”
FIXTURES
Tuesday February 18: Warm-Up v Sri Lanka, Adelaide (2am GMT)
Sunday February 23: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup v South Africa, Perth (1pm GMT)
Wednesday February 26: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup v Thailand, Canberra (4am GMT)
Friday February 28: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup v Pakistan, Canberra (8am GMT)
Sunday March 1: ICC Women’s T20 World Cup v West Indies, Sydney (8am GMT)
Lead photo shows Sophie Ecclestone and Heather Knight celebrate the dismissal of Hayley Jensen.
Courtesy of the ECB
