Women’s World Cup: England defeat New Zealand by 1 wicket in a thriller.
Another day and another thriller in the Women’s world cup. England almost choked to lose in a thriller, playing on the last wicket, when Anya Shrubsole punched in the air to finally win the match for the team. New Zealand bowlers fought till the last ball, putting effort to out England, but failed.
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Image credit: pia.images.co.uk England's Player of the match : Nat Sciver
England’s tremendous bowling
England chose to bowl first on winning the toss. The New Zealand top-order got off to a very decent start but could not carry on. They looked stable until they fell prey to regular wickets. Kate Cross dismissed both the openers, Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine (captain) for 22 and 41 runs respectively as the duo built a 70-ball partnership. Skipper Sophie Devine got injured which held the team back. Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite added 24 runs each for the team. Kate Cross and Charlie Dean turned game-changers, bowling at good lengths and wheedled batters for the shots that led to dismissals. Following this Maddy Green stood not out at 52 off 75 balls on one end, looking at the team collapsing from the other end. Kerr Propel along with Maddy Green somehow managed to just got past 200 and put a target of 204 for England on the scoreboard. There was rain towards the end of the innings making the wind more prominent.
New Zealand bowlers fight back
England openers Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt didn’t get off to a good start as they got out early for just 25 and 12 runs respectively. Captain Heather Knight built an inning of 42 runs but could not capitalize much to aid the team to cruise through the chase. Nat Sciver and Sophia Dunkley helped the team glide as they went to stitch a partnership of 70 off 87 balls. But the drizzle spiced up the pitch, England looked to choke as they lost 5 wickets in a span of just 20 runs and almost ended up losing the game. Credit to the New Zealand bowler Frances Mackay who put up a tough fight for England as she struck 4 crucial wickets despite the windy conditions.
Kate Cross at the innings break said if the girls can stick around for 50 overs, they can chase this. But she wouldn't have expected the winning run to come off at the 11th wicket. New Zealand indeed gave a tough fight till the end to change its fate however ended up being on the losing side.
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said, “I am so proud of the girls for what they did. We knew we were 40-50 runs short on that wicket, but to take it this deep was incredible. The crowd was amazing too. The girls are gutted but it is cricket. We lost three games by 2-3 wickets or a few runs. If we had won those we may not even be thinking about those things. The hard thing is we could have done a lot of things differently. But there are a lot of positives to take. This group we have got here is a high level of care. We genuinely like each other and it's like a family. We might not be together after this tournament. So, we spoke about enjoying every moment.”
Nat Sciver (Player of the Match) said, “Didn't realize how much it was raining. They really turned the pressure on us. We left it for the cool ice Anya Shrubsole to do it for us. It is very hard on the bench. There have been so many close games in the tournament. I knew I had to do most of the scoring. I didn't mind facing too many balls. It was pretty tough bowling in the windy conditions.”
We have seen a similar kind of nail-biting thrilling match in World Cup before, in Men’s world cup. New Zealand’s heartbreak and England winning by the slightest of margin in a world cup match - thriller fans have now watched twice. Both England and New Zealand will play their next match against Pakistan which is at the bottom of the points table on 24th and 26th respectively.