Key events
WICKET! New Zealand 207-8 (Down c Sciver-Brunt b Bell 14)
Lauren Bell gets her first five-for in international cricket! Another terrific slower ball is spooned to mid-off, where Sciver-Brunt takes the catch and instantly breaks into a beaming smile. The England players are all so happy for Bell.
41st over: New Zealand 202-7 (Down 14, Rowe 2) After four singles from five balls, Lauren Down walks down the track to wallop Sciver-Brunt down the ground for a one-bounce four. Shot!
One over to go, with Lauren Bell hoping to get her first five-for in international cricket.
“Wanted to point out to readers that Sky Sports filmed a feature last night at a local pub in Bristol, the Old England,” says Tom Barrington. “We have a Sunday cricket team and one of the few pubs in the UK to have its own cricket nets out the back! The whole club are tuned in, waiting for the interval to see our captain mumble through a vox pop after he’d enjoyed a hearty weekend at Glastonbury. Nets tonight from 6pm for anyone who wants to join in!”
‘Hearty weekend at Glastonbury’ is a marvellous phrase that may well be adapted for these pages.
40th over: New Zealand 194-7 (Down 8, Rowe 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! New Zealand 194-7 (Gaze c Sciver-Brunt b Bell 4)
Lauren Bell gets another wicket, and as things stand these are career-best figures of 4/28. It was a lovely slower ball that the dangerous Gaze launched high in the air; Nat Sciver-Brunt did the rest.
39th over: New Zealand 187-6 (Gaze 3, Down 2) Pace at both ends now, with Sciver-Brunt back on for Dean (8-0-39-0). It definitely looks tougher against the seamers, who have combined figures of 23-0-92-5; the spinners have managed 16-0-92-0.
38th over: New Zealand 183-6 (Gaze 1, Down 0) That could be the decisive over of the match.
“There’s a lot of sport on, isn’t there?” says Andrew Miles. “Is there some form of ranking system for the various events currently running, so allow us to prioritise our time effectively?
“I’m sure that it’s down to personal preferences, but I’d go with:
1. Cricket of all varieties
2. Rugby union summer tours
3. European football championship
4. Wimbledon
5. Tour de France.”
I see you haven’t mentioned the darts, specifically today’s Players Championship 14 in Milton Keynes. I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.
WICKET! New Zealand 182-6 (Halliday c Jones b Bell 31)
Two wickets in the over for Lauren Bell, and the two set batters as well! Halliday gloved a pull down the leg side, where Jones took a smooth diving catch.
WICKET! New Zealand 181-5 (Kerr LBW b Bell 57)
A timely breakthrough from Lauren Bell. Kerr missed a vigorous slap across the line and was hit on the back thigh in front of middle. The ringer went up and, when Kerr reviewed, replays supported Anna Harris’s decision. Kerr goes for a well-made 57.
37th over: New Zealand 178-4 (A Kerr 57, Halliday 31) Halliday slog-sweeps Dean for four, an inelegant but very effective stroke. Dean then makes a good stop off her own bowling to keep New Zealand to six from the over. England will take that.
“Really enjoyed an unseen interaction on the boundary during the last over,” says Michael Jelley. “Sophie Ecclestone in hi viz making a nuisance of herself, making Alice Capsey laugh and giving chat as the bowler comes in. Speaks well of the camaraderie in the side. Bristol going chilly and grey, but no sign of rain at the moment…”
I think there might be a bit more around 7pm, but we should get a game. Sophie Ecclestone’s personality reminds me a bit of Jasprit Bumrah, the happy-go-lucky genius of men’s cricket.
36th over: New Zealand 172-4 (A Kerr 56, Halliday 25) Halliday pulls out the reverse sweep off Capsey but can’t beat short third. Kerr shows how to do it later in the over, using her wrists to place it between the keeper and Bell at short third. That’s her fifth boundary.
35th over: New Zealand 166-4 (A Kerr 51, Halliday 25) Back comes Charlie Dean, whose first ball is edged down to third for a couple by Halliday. The outfield looks pretty slow, so England won’t want to chase much more than 230.
Halliday is dropped by Bouchier, a sharp chance to her right at extra cover. She’d probably take that seven times out of 10.
34th over: New Zealand 160-4 (A Kerr 50, Halliday 20) Capsey drifts down the leg side to Halliday, who helps herself to a couple of leg-byes. I shouldn’t say ‘helps herself’; that makes it sound as if she volleyed the ball down to fine leg and ran off in celebration. She missed a flick to leg, the ball hit the pad and ran down to fine leg. Are we happy now?
A deft late cut for two brings up Kerr’s fifty. It’s been a classy innings: 72 balls, four fours. She’s the key to New Zealand getting a matchwinning total.
33rd over: New Zealand 154-4 (A Kerr 48, Halliday 20) Another quiet over from Sciver-Brunt. Ten to go.
32nd over: New Zealand 151-4 (A Kerr 47, Halliday 18) Alice Capsey replaces Sarah Glenn, whose figures of 5-0-40-0 reflect a difficult day. She gets away with a full toss that Halliday can only wave down the ground for a single, one of three from the over.
31st over: New Zealand 148-4 (A Kerr 46, Halliday 16) Sciver-Brunt starts with a wide but soon finds her line, particularly when the right-hander Kerr is on strike. It doesn’t look easy to score when the seamers bowl wicket to wicket.
30th over: New Zealand 146-4 (A Kerr 46, Halliday 15) Halliday gives her strike-rate a boost with two boundaries in three balls off Glenn. The first was cracked back over her head, the second reverse swept round the corner.
Kerr sweeps the last ball for another boundary to make it a very good over for New Zealand: 13 from it, and there are 12 overs remaining. Time for drinks.
29th over: New Zealand 133-4 (A Kerr 42, Halliday 6) Sciver-Brunt returns in place of Cross. You can understand New Zealand wanting to build a partnership and avert a potential collapse, but they’re in danger of going nowhere. Since Devine’s dismissal they’ve scored 24 in eight overs, and Brooke Halliday is 6 not out from 22 balls.
28th over: New Zealand 131-4 (A Kerr 41, Halliday 5) A couple of short balls from Glenn are pulled for a single apiece. In fact it’s a good over for New Zealand, with five of the six deliveries milked for a single.
27th over: New Zealand 126-4 (A Kerr 38, Halliday 3) Cross continues to bowl a really tight line, shaping the ball back to cramp the right-handed Kerr. Two from the over, which means she finishes a good day’s work with figures of 9-0-46-2.
26th over: New Zealand 124-4 (A Kerr 37, Halliday 2) An excellent comeback over from Sarah Glenn – one from it, and almost a wicket when Kerr is duped by a skiddy delivery that only just misses leg stump.
25th over: New Zealand 123-4 (A Kerr 37, Halliday 1) Halliday is beaten twice by Cross, then gets off the mark with a fiddle to fine leg. The wicket of Devine has unsurprisingly changed both the mood and the tempo
24th over: New Zealand 121-4 (A Kerr 36, Halliday 0) Kerr edges Bell well wide of the keeper for four. New Zealand, who lost their last seven wickets for 27 at Worcester, will be hearing The Giant is they lose another wicket here.
23rd over: New Zealand 117-4 (A Kerr 32, Halliday 0) DRS is now back up, too late for Maddy Green. The more you see her LBW, the more you think it might have missed leg. We’ll never know.
WICKET! New Zealand 116-4 (Green LBW b Cross 5)
Thanks Daniel, hello everyone. Maddy Green gets her first boundary with a cracking straight drive off Cross – so straight that it hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end and ricocheted through mid-off.
The umpires then inform the players that DRS is down – and that means Green has no right of reply when she’s given out LBW! In truth I don’t think it would have been overturned, though it was closer to leg stump than it first looked. Umpire’s call I suspect.
22nd over: New Zealand 111-3 (Kerr 30, Green 1) A successful return for Bell who bags the big scalp and concedes just two runs.
With that I’m signing off and Rob Smyth will see you to the close.
WICKET! Devine b Bell 43 (New Zealand 109-3)
Breakthrough! It’s the returning Bell who bags the big fish. On a length, angling back into the stumps after shaping through the air, Devine leans back and tries to dab it for a single behind square on the off side. But she cramps herself and stabs at the ball, catching it with an inside edge that clatters her wickets behind her. She throws her head back in disbelief. She was looking so good but has to go.
21st over: New Zealand 109-2 (Kerr 29, Devine 43) Cross rejoins the attack and this time she does have Jones standing up to the stumps. The Kiwi batters are circumspect, making do with three singles. Good return for the number two ranked bowler in the world.
20th over: New Zealand 106-2 (Kerr 28, Devine 41) I went too early with my ‘Heavenly from Devine’ line because the Kiwi skipper has just unfurled a cover drive from the gods. Overpitched by Dean, but Devine had to wait for it, leaning in at just the right time and opening the face to thread the needle between point and cover. A wide and two singles has the scoreboard ticking along.
19th over: New Zealand 99-2 (Kerr 27, Devine 36) That’s heavenly from Devine who is now hitting at a run a ball. Two lovely boundaries – one drilled through the covers and the other hammered past midwicket – brings the partnership past 50. The last five overs have gone at 8.2 and Kerr is rotating well, feeding her skipper the strike.
18th over: New Zealand 89-2 (Kerr 26, Devine 27) Another boundary for Kerr who threads a gap off the back foot as Dean drags down. Shows what I know. Kerr is purring now! Seven off the over. Suddenly New Zealand are going alright.
17th over: New Zealand 82-2 (Kerr 21, Devine 25) A bowling change. Odd, I thought Sciver-Brunt was going well. Perhaps she needed a breather. Glenn into the attack and New Zealand sniff an opportunity. Devine slaps a four off the back foot through the covers and Kerr shows her first bit of intent by skipping down the track and lifting Glenn back over her head for four. Three more runs in the over adds up to 11 and possibly points to a shift in gears.
16th over: New Zealand 71-2 (Kerr 15, Devine 20) Good again from Dean. She’s been really impressive. Just four from it. Crucially, Kerr is striking below 50%. How long does her skipper wait before she gives her the ‘hurry-up’? Or is Kerr dropping anchor in the traditional role?
15th over: New Zealand 67-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 19) Finally, a bit of something from a Kiwi. After bunting three balls into the covers for no runs, Devine leans into a fuller ball and hoiks it up and over the infield for four to deep backward square. Sciver-Brunt adjusts and pulls her length back and Devine pulls it high into the leg side. Beaumont is under it but can’t quite get there – though the bowler reckons she should have – and it bobbles for four. Eight from it. Better from New Zealand.
14th over: New Zealand 59-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 11) Another over costing just one run. This is excellent bowling from Dean but New Zealand really have to try their hand. This innings is going nowhere fast. The last five overs have contributed a mere 13 to the total. With the ring field, someone has to have a go and look to hit over the top. I know, I know. It’s easier said than done. But they are elite athletes.
13th over: New Zealand 58-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 10) New Zealand need to get a move on here. But England are firmly in control with a ring field and wicket to wicket bowling. That’s an excellent over from Sciver-Brunt who is probing around a tricky length and conceding just one single at the top of the set. Kerr has faced 26 balls. Maybe she is the one that needs to kick on.
12th over: New Zealand 57-2 (Kerr 12, Devine 9) Better from Dean who is now giving it a bit more air and landing it around the fifth stump, inviting the batters to press forward. Once she angles one the hips and coughs up a single to Devine, and there’s a neat push from Kerr into the off side after using her feet. But otherwise Dean wins this over on points.
11th over: New Zealand 55-2 (Kerr 11, Devine 8) As expected Cross takes a breather and Sciver-Brunt comes into the attack. She’s got Jones standing up to the stumps and is looking to bowl into the pitch. Apart from a loosener down the leg side – spanked by Kerr but straight to the fielder on the boundary – Sciver-Brunt is tight on the stumps. Three from her first over.
10th over: New Zealand 52-2 (Kerr 9, Devine 7) Time for spin now as Charlie Dean enters to scene having already snagged a run-out. She hasn’t quite found her line yet, straying too close to the pads. That allows the batters to easily milk her for four singles on the on side. Dean adjusts but Kerr jabs a couple wide of short third.
Now the sun pokes through, stretching shadows across the turf.
9th over: New Zealand 44-2 (Kerr 5, Devine 4) An eventful over. Three boundaries – two for Bates who sliced through the covers and biffed over square leg – and one for Devine who spanked her second ball to the cover-point fence. But crucially the over, worth 16 runs, also brought a wicket. I reckon that’ll be the end of Cross who over-stepped twice.
