England's women Cricket team continued their unpredictable series against New Zealand in the southern hemisphere, with a comprehensive victory over the hosts this time, in the first of the three scheduled Twenty20 international matches in Whangarei today. With the ODI matches not going to plan over the last week or so, they returned to their expected form in stylish fashion once the Twenty20 format came on to their radar. After bowling the home side out for a low score of just 60 runs, they completed the job with plenty of time to spare to confirm an eight wicket success and to lay down a marker for the remaining two matches.
The White Ferns' skipper Suzie Bates won the toss and elected to bat first. She was soon regretting that boldness as her team slipped to an embarrassing 11-5 including the dismissal of herself for just 3 runs, with three wickets falling for no runs. The situation got even worse when the sixth wicket only added another seven runs before that also fell. As recoveries go, a partnership of 13 for the seventh wicket would normally sound paltry, but it did at least get the scoreboard moving in a steadier fashion. The tail did add a further 29 runs for the final three wickets, but the total of 60 all out off 19.4 overs was never likely to trouble the visitors, when their turn to bat came around.
Home fans were left lamenting their team's lowest ever T20 score in internationals.
England's bowling was 'on the money' throughout the New Zealand batting innings, with Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole having particularly good days with the ball in hand. Both women took three wickets for very few runs, with returns of 3-10 and 3-6, respectively.
Charlotte Edwards' side cantered to their target with 50 balls still remaining to be bowled, scoring 61-2. The captain remained unbeaten at the end with a fine score of 32. Although she lost her fellow opener Lauren Winfield for 1 when the England total was just 5 and then saw Sarah Taylor depart for 16, as the score had progressed to 35, there were no real alarms for her side in finishing the game off.