Chester-le-Street, 26 June 2024
England won the opening match of the series by a worryingly wide margin The Kiwi management has some serious thinking to do before the next game.
The weather was friendly, the outfield fast, so England had to be patient.
Lauren Bell’s start wasn’t an accurate indicator of the outcome. Suzie Bates hit her first over for 9, and
Heather Knight felt forced tor remove her after three overs for 28 runs. Her main rival for an opening spot, Lauren Filer, won the first breakthrough in the fourth over by bowling Bates for 16. That was one of the White Ferns’ three batting pillars downed, and Filer went on to record the most economical figures: 5-1-18-1.
It was important for the Kiwi younger generation to stand up and be counted. Georgia Plimmer did a job, scoring 29 and seeing the 50 up. Her dismissal was careless. Melie Kerr hit a straight drive that deflected off her partner to mid-wicket, where Maia Bouchier’s throw found Plimmer well short as she continued her run to the other end.
The other two pillars of the tripod, Kerr (10) and the skipper Sophie Devine (13), both fell to Sophie Ecclestone off outside edges that showed Amy Jones at her best.
With Kate Cross’ absence through a discomfort, there was still room for all three spinners, Ecclestone, Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn. That was Jon Lewis’ stated wish, but it indicates his line of thinking: there must be at least three seamers on call! Nat Sciver-Brunt was allowed to offer five overs, and she pinned Maddy Green in front.
It was Dean who took the honours, bowling a searching spell that kept asking questions of batting techniques. She finished with 9-1-38-4, to raise her profile even further. The spinners returned a combined analysis of 20.3-2-86-7. Point proved.
The lack of Kiwi batting-depth is nothing new; now they subsided from 56-1 to 156 all out. Brooke Halliday held the breach bravely, becoming the sole batter to reach a half-century (51/60). When she had only No 11 Fran Jonas as company, she lofted Dean back over her head for the sole six of the innings.
The Reply
That target of 157 might have a chance against some national sides around the world, but not the hosts today. In short, Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier took the bowling attack to the cleaners.
Molly Penfold’s opening over was even more inaccurate than Bell’s had been; it contained three 4s, a single, a wide and a no-ball. She went for 15.
Both batters were in form; they waited for the inaccurate ball and smote it. The 50 was up by the eighth over (Bouchier 20*, Beaumont 26*). Devine gave Jess Kerr and Hannah Rowe lengthy spells to help them find their bearings and produce the magic ball. Kerr bowled some early inswing that needed careful treatment, but the wickets refused to fall.
After ten overs England were 68-0 and needed a run-rate of a tortoise-like 2.2.
Devine took the ball herself for the eleventh over. She did beat Bouchier’s bat once, but was dispatched for three 4s.
Melie Kerr was the other likely wicket-taker with her leg-spin, but in her second over both batters smashed her for six. Beaumont’s brought her her 50, then Bouchier’s saw the 100 partnership up. Her 50 came off 38 balls.
Cricket came closer to normality in the 18th over, when Bouchier didn’t get right over a drive, and Bates took a good diving catch off the deserving Halliday. But by then England needed only a further 20 runs.
The target was reached in only 21.2 overs, so some people could enjoy an early tea. For the White Ferns there will be some earnest reviews. How can they restore the balance?
For the English, this was the perfect start. Their target now must be to ensure a 100% record; they have a habit of loosening their grip and allowing defiant Kiwis to regain some late reward with a win.
Scores:
New Zealand 156 (33.3 overs) (Halliday 51, Dean 4-38) England 157-1 (21.2 overs) (Beaumont 76*; Bouchier 67) England won by 9 wickets
Teams
England
1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Maia Bouchier, 3 Heather Knight (captain), 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Danni Wyatt, 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Charlie Dean, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Sarah Glenn, 10 Lauren Filer, 11 Lauren Bell
New Zealand
1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (captain), 5 Maddy Green, 6 Brooke Halliday, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Hannah Rowe, 9 Jess Kerr, 10 Molly Penfold, 11 Fran Jonas
Afterthoughts
The English bowling line-up looked more secure than the batting: three spinners, two quicks and Nat Sciver-Brunt able to bowl again. There were more question-marks against the batters. Would they be able to keep the bat straight for longer than in the T20s or the imminent Hundred? They could!
In her preview chat Heather Knight picked the word “experimentation” as a key part of the thinking. There was little sign of it in Chester-le-Street, but perhaps her mind was turning towards the big event in Bangladesh.
It was a sad coincidence that Frank Duckworth MBE, co-inventor of the DLS method, died five days before the match.
Ryana Macdonald-Gay called up into the squad. Jon Lewis had been impressed with her performances in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, and there had been ‘a couple of niggles’ (Kate Cross and NSB) among the players. It was a shame that in her most recent matches, albeit T20s, RMG had not shown her best form.
One problem remains for the Kiwis. Their leading players are getting ever older; the younger generation (Plimmer, Gaze, Jonas all 20) has not (yet) shown the ability to take the weight off experienced shoulders.
