Charlotte Edwards may be fast closing in on her triple century of caps for England in all forms of the game, but the women's Cricket captain shows few signs of fading into the background just yet. The thirty-five-year-old once again demonstrated admirable resilience and determination in New Zealand today in Mount Maunganui. She steered her troops to a convincing 90-run victory in their second ODI match against the hosts and earned herself the player of the match accolade to boot. Perhaps more importantly, the win gave them two important ICC Championship points, as they look for qualification to the 2017 World Cup.
After a loss in their first match of the series, England needed to regain their composure and stamp their mark on the opposition in the second game at Tauranga. They bravely decided to bat first after winning the toss, to set their rivals a challenging target. Despite losing vice-captain Heather Knight cheaply with only 7 runs on the board, Edwards' team progressed serenely if not with any great impetus on a low-scoring pitch. The skipper shared in partnerships of 54 for the second wicket with Lauren Winfield and 68 for the third with Sarah Taylor, as they looked promisingly placed at 129-3. Wickets tumbled regularly thereafter though, as they were finally all out on just 194 in the last of their 50 allotted overs.
Edwards was top scorer with 65, backed up solidly by Taylor's 45.The pick of the hosts' bowling attack was Anna Peterson with a wonderful spell of 4-25.
New Zealand were unable to recreate the form they demonstrated in the first match in the series when they batted, losing two quick wickets at the top of the order as they teetered on 19-2.
A 28-run third wicket partnership represented a slight improvement in their fortunes, but with wickets continually tumbling down the order, they never looked like catching their opponents' score. The only real resistance came from Kate Broadmore with 20 and Peterson with 21. England's victory was confirmed when the last wicket fell in the 37th over, with New Zealand making a disappointing 104 all out.
After her surprising top score with the bat in the first match between the two sides, Anya Shrubsole this time drew the plaudits for her more recognised ability of bowling, bagging 4-36 from her full allowance of ten overs.
The tourists will now look to cement their improved form by claiming another success at the same venue, when the sides clash again on Sunday.