England v New Zealand – fifth and last T20
Lord’s Cricket Ground
England completed their expected unbeaten season, winning the T20 series 5-0.
But this was far from a walkover. The top-order failed to function as hoped, and the White Ferns’ batting gave them hope for a while. In the end the hosts cruised home, but the large crowd fell silent for lengthy periods, as their heroes came under real pressure.
An early cause of trouble was Fran Jonas, the 20-year-old left-arm spinner. She doesn’t have a perfect action; the bowling arm isn’t ideally high. But those imperfections allowed her to bowl dangerous inners, aided by the famous slope.
Danni Wyatt didn’t mistime her first ball. She struck it hard and true – straight into the hands of Melie Kerr at deep mid-wicket. Groans. This encouraged Sophie Devine to ask Kerr to take the second over with her leg-spin. She didn’t enjoy similar success, but a slow pitch was causing many strokes to be mistimed.
Now Jonas deceived Maia Bouchier, who lobbed a stroke as far as Maddy Green at mid-on. Not to worry, England’s batting-order stretches from here to there. But it suffered another indignity when a Devine bouncer struck Alice Capsey’s helmet. Her reaction was to hit the next ball for four, under a helmet off the shelf.
The powerplay brought a modest 40-2.
Nat Sciver-Brunt offered a return to confidence. The 50 arrived off 7.1 overs, but the glory belonged to Jonas. NSB unleashed a powerful straight drive. Jonas, bowling around the wicket, dived to her right, shot out her right hand, and the ball stuck firmly in its grip. Capsey had the best view, though she was intent on keeping out of the path of the ball and Jonas’ tumbling form.
One of the great catches.
That was 57-3, then, four runs later, Capsey waltzed down the pitch to Eden Carson’s first ball and missed it. Izzy Gaze, lively throughout, removed a bail.
At halfway England had reached an unconvincing 66-4. Two overs later Amy Jones was on her way back, lofting yet another drive into long-on’s hands.
It was heartening to see the two young Kiwi spinners producing results. The 13th over was Jonas’ last. She picked up her fourth wicket by bowling a bemused Freya Kemp. She finished with 4-0-22-4, a performance that should have earned her a Player of the Match award, but tradition forestalled that wish.
Heather Knight, who denied her that distinction, used her vast experience to keep the White Ferns waiting. She stayed there till the end (46*/31), helped primarily by Charlie Dean (24/19).
This was a first sign of New Zealand’s ongoing weaknesses, allowing England to recover from 86-6 to 155-7. The killer instinct was lacking. Devine, taking the last over, conceded another unwanted 5 wides.
The Reply
20-year-old Georgia Plimmer was one of her team needing a performance. She clipped Lauren Bell for 4 in the first over.
There was a curious moment in the third. Plimmer straight-drove Bell, who aimed a boot at the ball as it whistled past her. The ball struck the stumps. A run-out? The DRS operator had to show a range of skills to give Anna Harris the chance of a fair decision. In the end it was Not Out. Suzie Bates was saved from a horrible end.
But Bell had her tail up. In the same over she bowled a lifter at Plimmer who tried to help it on its way over her shoulder. She edged it into Jones’ gloves.
The two Laurens were both selected for this game. Bates hit Lauren Filer for four, but another lifter was mishit into NSB’s hands. Filer’s pace can be very disconcerting.
It wasn’t to be Sophie Ecclestone’s day. For the first time in 34 matches she failed to take a wicket. At the other end Filer offered two bouncers, which brought a reaction from the umpires. But this was obviously all part of a deep-laid plan. The short ball could be a menace.
Still, by halfway, the White Ferns looked good prospects on 62-2.
In the eleventh Freya Kemp had a reward. Devine became the next batter to check long-on’s catching skills. Bouchier passed the test. 12 off 18 was less than the captain had hoped for.
Melie Kerr proved to be the side’s leading batter again (43/36), and Brooke Halliday (25/20) gave a glimpse of her promise in a stand of 40. But Charlie Dean, whose role in the England team seems to grow with every match, enticed Kerr down the track, and Jones did the necessary. The keeper’s catch to see off Halliday was remarkable. Kemp bowled very wide outside the off-stump. Instead of leaving it, the batter found an edge, and Jones leapt wide and low to net it.
Once more the tail failed to wag, successive scores of 4, 5, 8, 9* and 1* proved a point. Bell took the sixth wicket to fall to the quicks, rearranging Gaze’s stumps in the last over.
So the result was known a distance short of the final ball; England cruised home by 20. Knight was delighted to complete another unbeaten run, and optimists could see the jigsaw pieces falling neatly into place.
Result:
England 155-7 (Jonas 4-22)
NZ 135-8
England won by 20 runs
Player of the Match: Heather Knight (Not Fran Jonas?)
Player of the Series: Sarah Glenn (unemployed today)
Teams
England 1 Danni Wyatt, 2 Maia Bouchier, 3 Alice Capsey, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Heather Knight (captain), 6 Amy Jones (w-k), 7 Freya Kemp, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Lauren Filer
11 Lauren Bell
New Zealand 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (captain), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Izzy Gaze (w-k), 8 Jess Kerr, 9 Lea Tahuhu, 10 Eden Carson, 11 Fran Jonas
Afterthoughts
Not to be outdone by the ECB’s rendering of the Oval as “the Kia Oval, The Oval”, Lord’s became “Lord’s Cricket Ground, Lord’s”.
The White Ferns were unchanged, which told us a lot about their current player-depth. Despite a losing trot of seven matches, Ben Sawyer couldn’t see any advantage in introducing a new face. Despite the loss his instinct was right.
Jon Lewis made four changes. How close to a Bangladesh XI today’s team proves to be is open to doubt. But is was good seeing the two quicks hustling the batters, and finding lift on a slowish pitch.
English outfielding reached very high standards, helped by pinpoint field placements. But the top order had real difficulties timing the ball; many of their shots started far from the meat of the bat. By the end a total of over 150 was decent enough in the conditions.
I wonder why Ebony Rainford-Brent insists on calling Ecclestone an off-spin bowler. To many seasoned cricketers it seems unnatural to refer to an orthodox left-arm spinner as a leg-spinner, but that’s what she is.
