Key events
James Wallace
Righto, time for me to knock this OBO on the head. Raf’s report from a soggy Cardiff will be along very shortly. Thanks for you company and onward to the T20s. Goodnight!
Here’s Charlie Dean:
Batting first would always be a bit trick on day like today. You’re trying to manage situations then adjusting so tempo is always hard, and we were not on the right end of the result
Alice and Freya batted remarkably well, when you have shortened overs you want to take it on and accelerate, and we lost key wickets as we were starting to do that.
Wickets were how were going to get back into the game, we wanted to keep Lauren bell a bit for the death but she bowled remarkably well up top. She is an exceptional talent, a shame we could not get over the line.
I have really enjoyed it (the captaincy) and the girls have supported me really well.”
The Captain’s speak – first up is Amelia Kerr:
Any time you win a game and it’s against a quality England side, it’s pleasing to be on the right side today.”
The three (Green, Halliday and Gaze) have been outstanding, at 40-3 and on a tricky wicket for them to absorb pressure, they looked pretty comfortable, the run-rate was under control. The way they played was brilliant to watch.”
These 50-over games are really important for us to hopefully qualify for the next 50-over World Cup. It’s nice to get the win today, the loss was close one but nice to be in a really good position as a side where I feel we’re competing with some of the best in the world.”
On Suzie Bates’ 184th and final ODI:
The cricket gods looked after us today with winning the toss and getting the win. For someone like Suzie, an absolute legend of the game, all she’s achieved, all the runs she’s scored, the stats speak for themselves.
I always say we’re the lucky ones to see the impact she has on the group and changing room. Every White Ferns player looked up to Suzie. She’s gonna be a huge loss when she steps away from the game fully. What an incredible person to have for me to share a changing room with for 10 years.”
The player of the series is New Zealand’s Maddy Green:
We were just trying to be positive and put pressure back on England, they bowled well up top and the wicket was doing a bit as was the ball through the air.
It was nice to bat with Brooke, she did a beautiful job for us.
To get the win is really cool for the girls, the team feels like we are in a really nice place and we want to take that on into the T20 series.”
The Player of the match is New Zealand’s Brooke Halliday:
The biggest thing was trying to build a partnership with Maddy Green. She’s someone I’ve batted with a lot both domestically and internationally so we said watch the ball and go from there. I think the perk of being left-handed is Maddy is right-handed at the other end so the bowler did have to adjust.
When we got to the 20 mark, we were comfortably ahead, the way Izzy Gaze went out there and released pressure and made sure we were well in front was really good.”
New Zealand win by 17 runs on DLS – ODI series finishes 1-1
The England players head out to sign some autographs for the plucky youngsters who have braved the conditions all day. That’s a nice touch. The large covers are being hauled across the outfield, they should call this now with rain still falling… and there it is – official confirmation that New Zealand win this rain reduced match.
Thanks Simon, Jim here back for the wash up. Forgive the pun. I think we are done here, Michael Atherton describes the scene in Cardiff as ‘bleak’. A tied series seems a fair result, both sides were off their best but will be all the better for the run out in English/Welsh conditions. Attention now turns to the three T20s starting in Derby on Wednesday. Three more T20s follow against India and then it is time for the Big One – a T20 World Cup on home soil.
All that’s to come, along with the official calling of this match in New Zealand’s favour. I’ll stick around for that and the post match presentations.
Rain stops play
24.4 overs: New Zealand 141-4 (Halliday 42, Gaze 22) Now Lauren Bell does return. Halliday drives nicely through the covers, and Freya Kemp gets round, dives to cut it off … and deflects it away to the boundary. And four balls into the over the umpires do take them off – and that surely is that.
24th over: New Zealand 135-4 (Halliday 36, Gaze 22) Sophie Ecclestone comes back. New Zealand need precisely 49, and have 54 balls to get them in (if they keep playing that long). New Zealand’s balcony is full now, of people in bobble hats or sheltering under towels – obviously nobody thought to bring a blanket.
23rd over: New Zealand 132-4 (Halliday 34, Gaze 21) Jacqueline Williams, one of the umpires, runs off before the over starts and Rose Dovey replaces her. Perhaps she needs a better waterproof. Dean continues. There seems little reason to keep saving Lauren Bell for later, with New Zealand well ahead of DLS par, apparently en route to victory, England needing a cluster of wickets and Bell by a margin the most threatening bowler. Perhaps, given that it is now apparently raining reasonably strongly, England would prefer not to risk potential slips, skids and injuries.
22nd over: New Zealand 125-4 (Halliday 33, Gaze 15) Gibson’s over starts with a wide, contains another wide, and another might have been heading the same way before Halliday just nudged it past Amy Jones with the toe of her bat and sent it running away for four. The rain is increasing and so is New Zealand’s total. The DLS par score is currently 112, so they’re well ahead.
21st over: New Zealand 117-4 (Halliday 28, Gaze 14) Filer continues, four singles are scored, and it’s umbrellas up in the stands now. The main camera from the Cathedral Road End is very misty – it looks like either a fog’s rolled in, or it’s been smeared with a dirty dishcloth. As there’s no evidence of fog from any other camera it’s presumably option one.
20th over: New Zealand 113-4 (Halliday 26, Gaze 12) Gaze nicely diverts to third for four, and having come in with the game nervously balanced is keeping her side comfortably on the right side of the equation. With the completion of this over we now officially have a game of cricket on our hands!
19th over: New Zealand 108-4 (Halliday 25, Gaze 8) Lauren Filer is back, a fourth over for England’s most expensive bowler. She sends one wide and short to Gaze, who crashes a cut past point for four. Next ball is drive to mid-off, where Bell misjudges its path, letting it come off her hand and run away for a couple. Eight off the over.
18th over: New Zealand 100-4 (Halliday 24, Gaze 1) New Zealand tick into triple figures, and are now just ahead of where they need to be on DLS. Two more overs are required for this to constitute a game.
WICKET! Green b Gibson 37 off 43 (New Zealand 97-4)
Maddy Green is bowled through the gate, and that is a big wicket in the context of this game, which is balanced on a DLS knife-edge!
17th over: New Zealand 94-3 (Green 37, Halliday 21) A strangled lbw shout off the second ball, which I thought was very decent but the players didn’t really engage with and the commentators instantly dismissed. Turns out I was right, though, and had England reviewed Halliday would have been on her way. England could do with a couple of quick wickets to shake the feeling that New Zealand are in pretty good control of this run chase.
Meanwhile, with rain potentially imminent, the game will pause while the players take drinks.
16th over: New Zealand 90-3 (Green 35, Halliday 19) Dani Gibson comes into the attack. There is, I’m told, a bit of rain about and according to my rain radar there’s more to come, and they’re unlikely to be playing cricket in 45 minutes. Four more overs are required for this to constitute a game.
15th over: New Zealand 84-3 (Green 32, Halliday 17) Charlie Dean is by a margin the team’s most economical bowler, and England will be grateful that she’s still keeping a lid on it – just four off this over, and 12 off the three she’s bowled so far.
14th over: New Zealand 82-3 (Green 32, Halliday 15) Hello! Well then. Halliday sweeps Ecclestone for four and reverse-sweeps also for four. Add a misfield and a bit of smart running and New Zealand are ramping it up nicely. Thirteen off the over.
13th over: New Zealand 69-3 (Green 29, Halliday 5) Shot! Maddy Green is keeping New Zealand on the tracks singlehandedly at the moment. She drives a full ball from Dean through the covers for four.
I’m going to have a short break, Simon Burnton is here to oversee a clump of wickets/flurry of boundaries/delete as appropriate.
12th over: New Zealand 62-3 (Green 24, Halliday 4) A clever shot from Maddy Green who loosens the shackles a little with a paddle for four off Ecclestone. Four more! Green steps out and lofts Ecclestone over the top of mid on for another boundary. A single down the ground brings Halliday on strike. Ecclestone dots out the rest of the over.
11th over: New Zealand 53-3 (Green 15, Halliday 4) Dean starts with three dots, landing it on a pocket square. Green gets a single down to long on but that’s the only run off the over. The pressure cooker begins to hiss…
10th over: New Zealand 52-3 (Green 14, Halliday 4) New Zealand are behind where they need to be on the DLS by about ten runs. Sophie Ecclestone puts the squeeze on and Charlie Dean is going to join her from the opposite end. This is not going to be easy for New Zealand.
9th over: New Zealand 49-3 (Green 12, Halliday 3) Ouch! Lauren Bell is hit on the hand as Green rifles a drive back at her. She looks in some pain as it hit her where she already had some strapping. The physio is called for and she’s up and smiling again. Phew. Shot! Maddy Green times a pull shot and it cracks off the bat and away for four.
8th over: New Zealand 43-3 (Green 7, Halliday 3) Halliday clips for a couple but it’s a miserly first over from Ecclestone and that’s all New Zealand can muster off it.
7th over: New Zealand 41-3 (Green 7, Halliday 1) Brooke Halliday joins Green with plenty of work to do, she’s off the mark with a clip off the toes. Lauren Bell has her dander up and is hunting for wickets. That’s the powerplay done, we’re going to see some Sophie Ecclestone for the first time this series.
WICKET! Georgia Plimmer lbw b Bell 7 (New Zealand 40-3)
Another one! Lauren Bell has three LBWs and New Zealand are in all sorts in the Cardiff mizzle.
6th over: New Zealand 40-2 (Plimmer 7, Green 7) There’s drizzle falling again in Cardiff and the wind is gusting. It seems to be putting Lauren Filer off as she sends down a very scruffy over… Green pulls a short ball for four, a leg side wide evades Amy Jones and runs away for four. Another wide and a couple more to Green and it’s an expensive 12 runs off the over.
5th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Plimmer 7, Green 1) Maddy Green is the new batter, she looked in good touch up in Durham and her side need runs from her again now. She gets off the mark with an airy poke that flies past gully. Edgy stuff from the visitors in Cardiff.
WICKET! Melie Kerr lbw b Bell 1 (New Zealand 27-2)
Stone dead! Lauren Bell has Melie Kerr bang in front and Kerr chooses not to review! That’s the big wicket for England, Bell has two and New Zealand are under pressure now.
4th over: New Zealand 27-1 (Plimmer 7, A Kerr 1) Filer drifts too straight and is clipped off the pads fine for four by Plimmer.
3rd over: New Zealand 21-1 (Plimmer 2, A Kerr 0) Amelia Kerr arrives in the middle, replacing her mentor and childhood hero.
WICKET! Suzie Bates lbw b Bell 12 (New Zealand 21-1)
Drop! Bell draws Suzie Bates into the drive with a lovely outswinger, it goes to Heather Knight at first slip and she spills the chance! Oh no, Bell can’t hid her disappointment.
That’s out though! The very next ball Bell pins Bates lbw and Bates walks off! A lovely moment as the crowd rise, England and New Zealand’s players pause to applaud her all the way off the field as she brings a two decade long international career to an end.
2nd over: New Zealand 12-0 (Bates 10, Plimmer 1) New Zealand need to win to tie the series, Suzie Bates would love to finish with a win and she looks to have the bit between her teeth. She stands tall and pulls Lauren Filer through wide mid on for an imperious four!