England complete unbeaten summer with T20 whitewash of New Zealand
Updated 17/07/2024 at 21:40 GMT+1
Heather Knight's side have faced Pakistan and New Zealand in both the one-day format, as well as in a series of T20 matches in preparation for the Women's T20 World Cup later this year. England have come through all of their fixtures without suffering defeat. They completed their latest whitewash after recovering from a poor start at Lord's to beat New Zealand by 20 runs.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
England have completed an unbeaten white-ball summer to give them the perfect preparation for this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup.
They sealed a 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand by winning the final T20 match at Lord’s by 20 runs.
After a slow start, England set their opponents a target of 156 but Lauren Bell starred with the ball and took three wickets as the visitors fell short.
Before New Zealand arrived in England at the end of June, Heather Knight’s side had already dispatched Pakistan in their T20 series and one-day internationals.
The White Ferns were next up and only the third and final ODI came close to being defined as a tight encounter - but England still wrapped up a three-nil series win with 20 balls left in their innings.
The hosts carried their scintillating form into the T20 matches and took to the field at Lord’s with a 4-0 lead and their sights firmly set on registering a perfect record.
Four changes were made to the England team, with Knight returning to the line-up along with Lauren Filer, Maia Bouchier and Lauren Bell.
New Zealand won the toss and put England into bat, before making the best possible start - with Dani Wyatt hitting the first ball of the match to deep mid-wicket and being caught out.
The visiting spin bowlers then took centre stage with England left struggling on 87-6 with just over 12 overs played as Fran Jones took four wickets and Eden Carson dismissed Alice Capsey and Amy Jones.
Captain Knight and Anya Dean stabilised England with a partnership of 57 runs and the hosts finished on 155-7.
As New Zealand began their chase, Suzie Bates survived an umpire review but Georgia Plimmer was dismissed by Lauren Bell to leave the visitors 13-1 shortly before the third over.
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At the halfway stage, New Zealand were 62-2, needing 94 from 60 balls to win.
Captain Sophie Devine fell for 12 off the bowling of Freya Kemp, before Brooke Halliday and Amelia Kerr partnered effectively to take the White Ferns over 100 in reply.
However, when Halliday edged a wide Bell delivery into the gloves of Amy Jones, the match turned firmly in England’s favour.
Two wickets in three balls from Dean saw Kerr followed back to the pavilion by Maddy Green.
There were two further wickets as New Zealand failed to reach their target.
Speaking to the BBC after the match, captain Heather Knight said: “We talked about wanting to finish this summer unbeaten. We've been ruthless. We've talked about nailing teams when they're on top and we've done that. I'm a very happy captain."
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 17: Lauren Bell of England celebrates taking the wicket of Georgia Plimmer of New Zealand during the 5th Women's Vitality IT20 between England and New Zealand at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 17, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Although delighted with the 100% record of her team this summer, Knight knows the high levels of performance from players is going to make picking her T20 World Cup squad very difficult.
“It's been really nice to see, we've deliberately made changes to try and disrupt the group a bit.
“They've made selection really tough, especially for the World Cup, but that's a really good place to be in. We can pick on conditions and match-ups and that's a really good place to be in."
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine told Sky Sports: “We’ve got to look long and hard at the mirror and figure out how we’re going to win games” as they aim to bounce back from their disappointment in time for October’s tournament in Bangladesh.
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