Key events
17th over: England 63-3 (Bouchier 7, Kemp 12) Patel rattles through her fourth over, England accumulate four singles off it and drinks are called for. I’m going to make the quickest cup of tea EVER. Time me. Time me!
16th over: England 59-3 (Bouchier 4, Kemp 11) Rosemary Mair looks dangerous again, she finds the edge of Bouchier’s bat but the nick just falls short of Gaze behind the stumps. A front foot no ball sees Mair gift a Free Hit but she follows up with a pinpoint yorker that that Kemp can’t get away. Five off the over all told.
15th over: England 54-3 (Bouchier 2, Kemp 10) Freya Kemp does release some of the pressure with a couple of boundaries off Patel, she lofts over the top and then crunches through extra cover. Cat and mouse stuff in Durham with both sides grappling for ascendancy.
14th over: England 46-3 (Bouchier 2, Kemp 2) Just two runs off Mair’s latest, pressure building on England…
13th over: England 44-3 (Bouchier 1, Kemp 1) Pressure on England now, two new batters at the crease and New Zealand bowling well. Freya Kemp is the new batter, she tucks through square to get off the mark.
WICKET! Emma Lamb c JM Kerr b Patel 15 (England 42-3)
Patel has started really well, New Zealand have got a squeeze on and Emma Lamb tries to release the shackles but to no avail. A loose shot from Lamb who tried to go up and over the infield but she got right under it and was easily caught by Jess Kerr in the ring.
12th over: England 42-2 (Lamb 15, Bouchier 0) Maia Bouchier is the new batter and she leaves her first ball outside off. A wicket maiden from Mair.
WICKET! Heather Knight lbw b Mair 19 (England 42-2)
Knight is on her way! Mair gets one to nip back and it hits Knight on the pad in front of the stumps. The umpire raises the finger and the review from Knight is in vain as the ball was clipping the bails and thus stays with the original decision. Nice bit of bowling from Mair.
A change of ends for Rose Mair and it seems to have done the trick, she keeps Knight honest for four dots and then…
11th over: England 42-1 (Lamb 15, Knight 19) Time for some spin from the White Ferns, Nensi Patel into the attack. Emma Lamb can’t get her away, dot follows dot follows dot. Maiden over, well bowled.
10th over: England 42-1 (Lamb 15, Knight 19) Illing whistles through her fifth over on the bounce and there’s just a single off it, she’s been miserly so far.
9th over: England 37-1 (Lamb 12, Knight 18) Rosemary Mair replaces Jess Kerr. England pick off three singles and there’s a wide down the leg side. This pair ticking over nicely after the early loss of Grewcock.
8th over: England 37-1 (Lamb 12, Knight 18) Heather Knight leans on another full ball from Illing and drives it through the covers for another glorious four.
7th over: England 30-1 (Lamb 11, Knight 13) Lovely cover drive from Heather Knight, perfectly placed for four. Knight then plays with soft hands through the vacant slip region to pick up a second boundary. A solid forwards defence to finish the over.
6th over: England 22-1 (Lamb 11, Knight 5) Illing has it on a string at the minute. Knight dabs to third for a couple and then keeps strike with a paddle into the leg side.
5th over: England 19-1 (Lamb 11, Knight 2) Jess Kerr is too straight to Lamb and is flicked away for England’s first boundary. The required run rate is only a little above 4 an over, its all about wickets for both sides.
4th over: England 13-1 (Lamb 6, Knight 1) Heather Knight is in at first drop and off the mark with a tuck off the pads for one. The DRS shows that had Grewcock reviewed the decision she would still be out there as it was sliding down past leg stump! Grewcock’s greeness costing her there and perhaps Emma Lamb should have had a word from the other end. Anywho, England are one down and New Zealand are in the hunt.
WICKET! Jodi Grewcock lbw b Illing 3 (England 10-1)
Pinned in front and has to go! Jodi Grewcock doesn’t get a dream debut with the bat.
3rd over: England 10-0 (Lamb 5, Grewcock 3) Another tidy over from Jess Kerr, just three runs off the over and some significant movement in the air.
2nd over: England 7-0 (Lamb 4, Grewcock 1) Grewcock follows an outswinger from Illing first ball, she’s at the top of the order today but usually bats down at 3 or 4 for Essex. A full ball hits the pads and they sprint a couple. Grewcock gets off the mark with a compact push into the covers that is spilled by the fielder, gifting a run. Decent start from Illing who is getting some movement with the new white ball.
1st over: England 4-0 (Lamb 4, Grewcock 0) Some nifty running from England’s openers sees a couple of twos chalked up from the first over after four dots in a row from Jess Kerr. Bree Illing is going to start from the other end.
Some unfortunate news breaking about England’s Em Arlott who has been ruled out of the series with concussion. She was hit on the head while batting in the nets at Durham yesterday, we wish her a speedy recovery.
The players emerge interval, England’s opening pair of Jodie Grewcock and Emma Lamb mark their guards. Jess Kerr will start with the ball for New Zealand. Play!
New Zealand 210 all out
New Zealand go from 147-2 in the 35th over to 209 all out with nine balls left unused. That was a lurching end to their batting effort. England’s debutants all put their hand up with wickets and catches and they’ll be confident of chasing this target down after the break.
48th over: New Zealand 207-9 (Mair 2, Illing 0) Charlie Dean gets her second wicket and has 2-21 from seven overs. Excellent. Lauren Bell will hope to hoover this final wicket…
WICKET! Jess Kerr b Dean 2 (New Zealand 207-9)
Jess Kerr misses with a swipe and Charlie Dean hits. New Zealand nine down and falling in a heap.
47th over: New Zealand 206-8 (J Kerr 2, Mair 2) Bell beats the edge of Rosemary Mair’s bat with another slower ball but there’s no nick so no dice with the hat-trick. Bell beams a wide smile nevertheless, she has 2-36 from her nine overs and England have put the skids on New Zealand in the last ten overs.
WICKET! Nensi Patel lbw b Bell 0 (New Zealand 205-8)
Lauren Bell is on a hat-trick! Another slower ball deceives new batter Nenis Patel and the review doesn’t save her, three reds and Bell has two in two.
WICKET! Izzy Sharp st Jones b Bell 6 (New Zealand 205-7)
Slower ball from Bell and Sharp’s charge meets with fresh air, Amy Jones takes the bails off with the batter stranded.
46th over: New Zealand 204-6 (J Kerr 1, Sharp 6) Brilliant debut bowling from Tilly Corteen-Coleman, she finishes with 2-49 from her ten overs.
WICKET! Maddy Green c Gibson b Corteen-Coleman 88 (New Zealand 203-7)
Green is gone! Tilly Corteen-Coleman has her second wicket as Maddy Green attempts a big one down the ground but finds Dani Gibson who takes a neat catch on the boundary edge.
45th over: New Zealand 201-5 (Green 87, Sharp 5) Bell offers width and Green cuts away for four to bring up the 200 for New Zealand. Green misses out on another wider ball, cutting to the boundary rider on the off side. Seven off the over, five to go.
Stephen Nicholls emails in, he’s impressed with Charlie Dean’s efforts as skipper.
“Great to have international cricket back on the OBO. I’m impressed with Charlie Dean’s captaincy. She has treated her debutant bowlers cleverly, with each of them starting with wickets and decent economy; then brings herself on when planned to bowl to Halliday, and correctly uses DRS when the umpire turns down the appeal. This is very promising.”
Agreed, Dean has been impressive. England’s bowling has been tidy too. Their fielding on the other hand…
44th over: New Zealand 194-5 (Green 81, Sharp 4) Corteen-Coleman into her ninth over, a full toss is swatted away by Green for a welcome boundary. Lauren Bell is coming back for the death with three overs up her sleeve.
43rd over: New Zealand 186-5 (Green 75, Sharp 2) Izzy Sharp joins Green in the middle. New Zealand deal in singles but they could do with finding the fence.
WICKET! Isabella Gaze c Jones b Gibson 11 (New Zealand 183-5)
Lovely catch from Amy Jones stood up to the stumps and Gibson has her first ODI wicket
42nd over: New Zealand 183-4 (Green 74, Gaze 11) Filer slams a ball into the middle of the deck, Gaze pulls away with a top edge but the ball falls short of Freya Kemp running in from deep square. Filer finishes her work with the ball and has decent figures of 1-43 off her ten overs. She only got the call up to play at the last minute due to Issy Wong reporting a niggle.
41st over: New Zealand 178-4 (Green 73, Gaze 8) Green shuffles across her stumps and gets a flick on a full ball from Gibson that beats Amy Jones stood up to the stumps and runs away for a boundary. Nine overs to go, what can New Zealand muster?
40th over: New Zealand 171-4 (Green 67, Gaze 7) Shot! Gaze opens her shoulders and bunts a full and fast ball from Filer down the ground for four.
39th over: New Zealand 166-4 (Green 67, Gaze 3) Grewcock has bowled well today, just three runs off her over and she has decent figures of 1-26 off her six overs so far.
38th over: New Zealand 166-4 (Green 67, Gaze 3) Izzy Gaze is the new batter, she’s off the mark with a compact drive. Green then plays the shot of the day, at least according to Michael Atherton on commentary as she unfurls a languid cover drive that bisects the field for four.
Speaking of which, some doofus wrote all about the cover drive this week:
WICKET! Brooke Halliday lbw b Dean 6 (New Zealand 158-4)
The plan works first ball! Dean pins Halliday in front of leg stump, the umpire says no but Dean is confident and goes for the review. The DRS shows three reds and Dean has the wicket. Great captaincy and execution from Dean and Halliday has to drag herself from the middle.
37th over: New Zealand 158-3 (Green 62, Halliday 6) Grewcock rattles through a quick over and it looks like being just one over for Lauren Bell as Charlie Dean brings herself back on. I think this is a ploy to get Halliday who has a weakness against left arm spin…
36th over: New Zealand 155-3 (Green 61, Halliday 4) Six runs off Bell’s over, New Zealand will definitely be targeting 260 or so at least here, England have bowled well but fielded terribly so far.
35th over: New Zealand 149-3 (Green 58, Halliday 1) That was Jodi Grewcock’s first international wicket and what a name to have as the first in the back pocket… albeit even she looked pretty sheepish at the manner of the dismissal. ‘Dross gets wickets’ as they so often say in club cricket with perhaps slightly different wording.
Brooke Halliday joins Green in the middle, Lauren Bell is coming back for a burst.
WICKET! Amelia Kerr c Bell b Grewcock 55 (New Zealand 147-3)
Amelia Kerr has a shocker. She tries to punish a full toss from Grewcock but ends up slapping it straight to Lauren Bell at mid off. England can’t believe their luck and Kerr can’t believe what she’s done after laying all the groundwork.
“Morning James from sunny/rainy Salvador, May being that kind of month” emails Cressida Evans.
“Does anyone in the Graun hive mind have any tips on how to listen to this match from outside the UK? Can’t seem to get the BBC, Guerilla cricket aren’t interested in women’s cricket sadly and the YouTube offerings are challenging me to speak Hindi. All advice gratefully etc. In the meantime, thanks for some excellent updates and if you could wiggle your nose and improve our fielding that would be grand! Abraços from Brazil”
I can’t help with England’s ropey fielding but I can certainly enquire as to how to tune in from foreign climes. Any OBO followers out there got an overseas link for Cressida? Thanks for tuning in, always lovely to hear from readers in far flung places.
34th over: New Zealand 146-2 (A Kerr 55, Green 56) Is this the charge? Green brings up her fifty with a paddle fine for two runs and then scuds a length ball back down the ground for four runs. Ten runs in total off the over and the partnership is over a hundred between Green and Kerr. Time for a drink and then we might see some humpty from the White Ferns.
33rd over: New Zealand 136-2 (A Kerr 52, Green 49) England are just starting to build the pressure with some wily bowling, Filer completes her eighth over, she’s gone for just 33 runs so far with just three singles off her latest.
32nd over: New Zealand 133-2 (A Kerr 50, Green 48) Mightily impressive from Corteen-Coleman, just a single from her over which sees Amelia Kerr bring up her half century.
31st over: New Zealand 132-2 (A Kerr 49, Green 48) Filer returns, Green and Kerr rotate strike, four off the over. They might have to put the foot down soon, England happy with this run rate, the game isn’t getting away from them.
30th over: New Zealand 128-2 (A Kerr 46, Green 47) TCC misses her lenght and sends down a full bunger that is duly dispatched down the ground for four by Maddy Green. Three more singles make it seven off the over. The partnership for New Zealand is up to 86 but the run rate is hardly towering at 4.2 per over. New Zealand have plenty of wickets in hand for a charge in this back half of the innings.
29th over: New Zealand 121-2 (A Kerr 45, Green 41) Not again! Dani Gibson gifts four with a poor misfield at mid on. “It’s catching like a virus” says Nasser Hussain on the tv commentary.
28th over: New Zealand 114-2 (A Kerr 44, Green 35) Corteen-Coleman replaces Dean, she’s assured enough on debut to be tinkering with her field. Lovely flight and guile nearly sees Green stumped, the ball beating the edge but the batter just about manages keep her foot in the crease.
27th over: New Zealand 111-2 (A Kerr 43, Green 33) Grewcock nearly sneaks one through the defences of Maddy Green who manages to chop down on it at the last minute. A mixture of flat and flighted balls from Grewcock, just four off the over with a wide down the leg side.
26th over: New Zealand 107-2 (A Kerr 42, Green 31) Excellent from Charlie Dean once more, she whistles through her over for the cost of just three runs.
25th over: New Zealand 104-2 (A Kerr 41, Green 29) Flighted stuff from Grewcock but she doesn’t get too many revs on the ball, relying more on changes of pace and drift in the air. She’s carded to open the innings with the bat but bats in the middle usually. Six off her first over and New Zealand bring up their 100 to polite applause at Durham.
24th over: New Zealand 98-2 (A Kerr 37, Green 27) Charlie Dean miserly once more, she’s gone for just 12 runs off her four overs. England’s other debutant is being summoned for a bowl – Essex’s 21 year old all-rounder Jodi Grewcock is going to show us her leg-spin.