Heather Knight Scores 101 As England Completes ODI’s Record Pursuit Of 245 To Take An Unconquerable 3-1 Series Lead With Just One Game To Play; Anya Shrubsole and young Charlie Dean impress with the ball; Watch the final ODI starting at 10.30am Sunday on Sky Sports Cricket and YouTube.
Heather Knight’s resplendent 101 led England to a three-wicket victory over New Zealand with three balls to spare to complete their highest ODI race chase ever.
Captain Knight put in 100 with Amy Jones (40) for the fourth wicket and then 52 with Danni Wyatt (27) for the sixth as England rallied from 71-3 and 185-5 to reach their goal of 245 in the mid-50th. . .
Knight and Wyatt fell on the penultimate round, leaving England needing six of the last six balls, but they slipped over the line when Anya Shrubsole punched Leigh Kasperek for four and then took a single and claimed the winning run of the match. when Sophie Ecclestone was stumped outside a wide.
The successful chase surpassed the 243-1 England had scored against New Zealand at Lincoln in 2008 and led them to an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with one game to play, at Canterbury on Sunday.
Knight initially struggled to score, but found her footing as her innings advanced against a White Ferns attack that missed the rested Lea Tahuhu, who had bagged five wickets in the tourists’ victory in Tuesday’s third ODI.
The England captain hit 10 fours as she achieved her second ODI century, a milestone she had missed in game one of this series after falling by 89 during a 30-run win at Bristol.
Lauren Winfield-Hill (33), playing her 50th ODI, put up 52 with Tammy Beaumont for England’s opening wicket, only for New Zealand closer Hannah Rowe (4-47) to discard both set hitters and Nat Sciver ( eleven).
New Zealand had previously scored 244-8 after recovering from 33-3, with Katey Martin (65th) hitting a first 50 ODI since 2017 and Amy Satterthwaite (54) her second of the series.
Shrubsole (2-43) did some of the initial damage in his comeback from an ankle injury, but did not accompany Katherine Brunt, who rested despite starring in the loss Tuesday at 4-22 with 49 no out.
Off-spinner Charlie Dean (3-52) continued her strong start in international cricket, the 20-year-old now has nine wickets in four matches, while closer Freya Davies won 2-46, having been remembered alongside Shrubsole and Sciver with Brunt, Kate Cross and Tash Farrant rotated.
Satterthwaite initially reunited New Zealand alongside captain Sophie Devine (41), with the pair putting in 56 for the fourth wicket before Dean pinned him lbw on the back foot.
Martin, who had hit double figures only once in six previous T20I or ODI innings on this tour, added 84 with Satterthwaite for the fifth wicket and then completed his half-century shortly after Dean dropped Satterthwaite on his legs.
Martin would have been out of Dean by just four if England had opted for the overhaul, while Knight also left it in the 1940s on deck before goalkeeper Jones blew a landslide opportunity at 57 against Davies in one shot less than. stellar. home team fielding screen.
Brooke Halliday (28 of 19) made an entrepreneurial cameo and after dating Dean, Rowe made 15 of 14 balls.
A score greater than 200 did not seem likely after New Zealand had lost three wickets in nine 24-0 runs, with Suzie Bates (17) outscored by Sciver and Shrubsole having Maddy Green tamely caught in the middle by a duck before throw Lauren. Down (11) with a beauty that cuts back to hit the stump.
England began their chase confidently but was rocked over three wickets for 19 runs, beginning when Winfield-Hill was caught in the fold and thrown by Rowe’s excellent nip-backer as the batter’s wait for a first ODI 50 since November continued. 2016.
Rowe happened to have Beaumont pinned by the side of the leg and Sciver lbw.
England rallied from that group of grounds, but shortly after Knight and Jones’s century partnership was consolidated, the latter unnecessarily dodged Rowe halfway before Sophia Dunkley went off to Satterthwaite for a duck.
Any New Zealand hopes of forcing a decisive match appeared to be thwarted by Knight and Wyatt, but when they fell to Devine, caught deep and lbw respectively, they led to a dramatic finish.
Watch the fifth and final ODI between England and New Zealand, in Canterbury, live from 10.30am. Sunday on Sky Sports Cricket and the YouTube channel Sky Sports Cricket.
