England beat New Zealand by a wicket in the Cricket Women’s World Cup to remain in semi-final contention; NZ 203 as leads Kate Cross (3-35) and Sophie Ecclestone (3-41); Nat Sciver (61) led the chase before England fell to 196-9; Anya Shrubsole scored the winning runs in Auckland
Anya Shrubsole hit the winning runs as England earned a thrilling one-wicket victory over New Zealand
England overcame a late collapse to keep their World Cup hopes alive with a nerve-shattering one-wicket win over New Zealand and left the host nation on the verge of elimination.
Having eliminated New Zealand 203, Heather Knight’s side appeared to be sailing to victory before falling from 176-4 to 196-9 in the space of five overs at Eden Park.
One more wicket would have ended England’s chance of defending their title, but with the rain pouring down, No.11 Anya Shrubsole (7th), the star of the 2017 final, held her nerve to level the scores with a cap through. of the covers before a following single. her ball passed her side over the line with 16 balls remaining.
After losing three exciting games to start the tournament before beating India, England finally came out on the right side of a close match and more wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan, the bottom two teams in the group, would give them a good chance of securing an inter the top four, although it may be due to the net execution rate.
Meanwhile, hosts New Zealand are almost out after their fourth loss of the campaign.
Having lost the toss and been asked to bat first, New Zealand got off to a fast start with the experienced pairing of Suzie Bates and captain Sophie Devine emerging unscathed from the power play.
England might have feared the worst, but Kate Cross broke the 61-run position in the 12th when Bates (22) jumped into the middle.
The White Ferns remained in a strong position as Devine formed helpful partnerships with Amelia Kerr (24) and Amy Satterthwaite (24). However, both fell to Charlie Dean (2-36), 21, and from 134-2 in the 31st, the home team slumped and was eliminated with seven balls left in the inning.
Cross (3-35) came back to claim two more wickets, including Devine (41), who was struggling with a back injury and unable to field, while left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (3-41) ran across. of the lower order.
Maddy Green (52 not out of 75 balls) did what she could to keep the innings together and a last wicket position of 19 with Jess Kerr (14) at least got New Zealand over 200, still some 30 or 40 runs down. of a whole pair.
England were firm favorites when the chase began, but their higher-order problems continued when Danni Wyatt (12) fell to Jess Kerr in the third over.
Tammy Beaumont (25) was ruled out by Lea Tahuhu on the last ball of the power play, but it was the only wicket for the New Zealand premium bowler as she was stopped with a hamstring injury four balls into his fifth over and was unable to play again. her joining Devine on the disabled list.
Knight (42) and Nat Sciver took England almost halfway to their goal with a composed third-wicket position of 45 before captain Frances Mackay caught lbw down the spinner after missing with a reverse sweep.
Amy Jones (1) departed soon after to bring balance back to the game, but a 70-run partnership between Sciver, who made her 16th ODI fifty, and Sophia Dunkley seemed to have put the game out of the question.
Even when Dunkley (33) was thrown in by Mackay, there was minimal pressure on England with only 28 more runs needed and more than nine overs to get them.
The tension mounted when Sciver (61) was brought down by Jess Kerr and when Mackay (4-34) eliminated Ecclestone and Cross in the same over, New Zealand sensed an opportunity.
The pressure was beginning to be felt for England and by the time Katherine Brunt was left without a return for a very risky second, they had lost four wickets in three overs and were one wicket away from elimination with another eight runs needed.
Shrubsole used all his experience while, at the other end, Dean seemed to be the only person on the field enjoying this tense finish, smiling as he beat Mackay to finish 47 with the rain pouring down.
A single width and a Shrubsole reduced it to just five required. Shrubsole got four of them in one go when he blasted a big Brooke Halliday delivery through the decks to level the scores.
The prospect of a Super Over remained, but Shrubsole clipped a full shot just after passing the next short midwicket ball to seal a thrilling victory.
England must win two more games but, despite working hard in Auckland, their World Cup defense continues.
Nat Sciver Man of the Match: “It’s about associations and one of [me or Heather Knight] see it through and take it home. Unfortunately none of us did that and we left it to the cold Anya Shrubsole. She’s crazy, we just crossed the line, but in the end we probably shouldn’t have. I’m really shocked.”
England captain Heather Knight: “Thanks to the Kiwis, they fought really hard and came close at the end. I’m relieved we crossed the line. It shouldn’t have been that close, we need to be better than that, but today was about getting the win.” And luckily we did.”
