Key events
22nd over: England 118-4 (Sciver-Brunt 42, Jones 28) The young offspinner Eden Carson comes into the attack for the first time and is targeted immediately, with Jones hammering her first ball for four. Carson does well to concede four singles from the remainder of the over, but New Zealand are in urgent need of a wicket.
21st over: England 110-4 (Sciver-Brunt 40, Jones 22) New Zealand were 109/2 at this stage, since you asked.
20th over: England 106-4 (Sciver-Brunt 38, Jones 20) Jones hits back-to-back boundaries off her own off Penfold, a thumping pull followed by an elegant cover drive – and she gets another off the last ball with a pull-drive over mid-on. Out of nothing, England have scored five boundaries in eight balls.
19th over: England 94-4 (Sciver-Brunt 38, Jones 7) A full inswinger from Devine is driven majestically past midwicket for four by Sciver-Brunt. It was in the air but immaculately placed. She’s putting on another masterclass – and she follows up with an even better shot, a back-foot on-drive that has Mark Butcher purring in the Sky commentary box. On an awkward, two-paced pitch, Sciver-Brunt is 38 not out from 34 balls.
18th over: England 85-4 (Sciver-Brunt 30, Jones 7) Kerr continues to toss the ball up, trying to buy another wicket. She’s milked for six runs, which takes England’s target down to 127 from 24 overs. Could be a tight finish.
17th over: England 79-4 (Sciver-Brunt 26, Jones 5) Jones gets her first boundary with a cracking shot, punching Devine through extra cover. England bat pretty deep, with Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean still to come, so New Zealand need to keep taking wickets. If they can get Sciver-Brunt in the next half hour, they’ll be favourites.
16th over: England 72-4 (Sciver-Brunt 24, Jones 0) Kerr has been expensive, conceding 25 from three overs, but that wicket makes it all worthwhile.
WICKET! England 72-4 (Dunkley c Gaze b Kerr 15)
Beautifully done! Melie Kerr finally gets Dunkley with the googly; it bounced to brush the glove, with Dunkley late on her attempted cut, and was brilliantly caught by Izzy Gaze. Dunkley goes for 15 from 24 balls.
15th over: England 64-3 (Sciver-Brunt 19, Dunkley 12) Devine is bowling a nagging wicket-to-wicket line. She drifts too straight and is clipped fine by Dunkley, with the fielder on the edge of the circle doing very well to save four.
14th over: England 62-3 (Sciver-Brunt 18, Dunkley 11) Dunkley thumps Kerr back over her head for four, a shot of authority, and later in the over Sciver-Brunt pulls another boundary. She’s making it look easy, as she usually does: in her last 20 ODI innings she averages 79.
It’s a tie at Cheltenham! Astonishing stuff. Glamorgan are all out for 592 and I don’t know what else to tell you, especially as I’m supposed to be reporting on this game.
13th over: England 51-3 (Sciver-Brunt 12, Dunkley 6) A poor ball from Devine is put away to the fine leg boundary by Sciver-Brunt. England need 161 from 29 overs.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan need one run off the final ball to achieve the highest runchase in first-class cricket history!
12th over: England 46-3 (Sciver-Brunt 7, Dunkley 6) Another googly is squirted for four by Dunkley. She didn’t pick it but reacted smartly to glide it past the keeper.
Apparently Dunkley was given out LBW, not caught behind, not that it matters now.
REVIEW! England 42-3 (Dunkley not out 1)
A reprieve for Sophia Dunkley. She was given out caught behind off a beautiful googly from Melie Kerr, but replays showed it went through the gate and missing the inside-edge.
11th over: England 40-3 (Sciver-Brunt 6, Dunkley 1) The captain Sophie Devine, who should bowl well on this pitch, replaces Hannah Rowe (5-0-22-2). Sciver-Brunt survives an LBW appeal after whipping across the line. There were two noises and it might have been missing leg, but I’d still like to see it again. That looked close.
10th over: England 39-3 (Sciver-Brunt 6, Dunkley 0) Sciver-Brunt pulls Penfold for four, expertly bisecting the two deep fielders.
In other cricket news, Glamorgan may be about to chase a target of 593 in the County Championship. They need eight from the last two overs – but they only have one wicket remaining.
9th over: England 34-3 (Sciver-Brunt 2, Dunkley 0) This is a good opportunity for Dunkley to make meaningful runs on her return. She can take a bit of time to get her eye in, with the required rate still well below six an over.
She almost falls for a duck, mind, when she wafts airily at an outswinger from Rowe. Careful now.
8th over: England 33-3 (Sciver-Brunt 1, Dunkley 0)
WICKET! England 33-3 (Bouchier c Gaze b Penfold 19)
England are officially in trouble. Bouchier shapes to hook a very high bouncer from Penfold, tries to pull out of the shot and gets the thinnest edge through to Izzy Gaze.
7th over: England 29-2 (Bouchier 16, Sciver-Brunt 0) “Tammy ‘Gilchrist’ Beaumont?” wonders Damian Clarke.
I honestly think it might have been subconscious guilt because of the dropped catch.
WICKET! England 29-2 (Knight ct and b Rowe 9)
Godder! Knight’s scratchy innings of 9 from 21 balls comes to an end when she pops a simple return catch. Really well bowled by Rowe, a perfect length and with just enough movement to hit the leading edge as Knight tried to work to leg.
6th over: England 26-1 (Bouchier 15, Knight 6) Knight drives Penfold pleasantly down the ground, only for a single but it’s her best shot so far. Bouchier clips two more through midwicket, which takes her series average to a modest 182.
5th over: England 22-1 (Bouchier 12, Knight 6) Bouchier top-edges a hook for six off Rowe. It didn’t clear deep backward square by much, though, and even Bouchier is struggling to time the ball on this awkward pitch.
4th over: England 12-1 (Bouchier 4, Knight 5) An exploratory yorker from Penfold is dug out by Knight, who looks calm if not yet fluent. A good maiden from Penfold ends with Knight slicing on the bounce to backward point. This is really good from New Zealand.
3rd over: England 12-1 (Bouchier 4, Knight 5) Rowe is getting some dangerous outswing. After a couple of wides, she induces a leading edge from Knight that drops short of mid-off and then scuttles away for three. This is shaping up to be a decent test for England.
2nd over: England 4-1 (Bouchier 1, Knight 2) Maia Bouchier, fresh from that coruscating hundred at Worcester, gets off the mark by clipping Molly Penfold for a single. New Zealand have started with good intent, both with the ball and in the field.
1st over: England 1-1 (Bouchier 0, Knight 1) It was missing leg stump, and by a fair way. That’s a bad misjudgement from Tammy Beaumont, who should still be at the crease. She marched straight off as if she’d been hit on the toe in front of middle stump. Maybe there was some kind of subconscious guilt after her reprieve earlier in the over.
WICKET! England 0-1 (Beaumont LBW b Rowe 0)
A huge early wicket for New Zealand! Beaumont pushed around her front pad and walked off the moment the finger went up, even though it looked well worth a review. It might have been missing leg stump and was probably umpire’s call at best/worst.
Izzy Gaze will have enjoyed that wicket even more than the bowler Hannah Rowe: she dropped Beaumont off the first ball of the innings. She took a clean diving catch to her right only to drop the ball when she hit the turf.
Here come the England openers, Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier, who have batted spectacularly in this series. But the consensus among the Sky pundits is that this could be a deceptively tricky runchase.
Lauren Bell’s reaction
Hitting the pitch really hard and finding that length was important, and taking pace off at the end went well. I’m really trying to progress my game and doing it out in the middle can be challenging. In the long run I think I’ll benefit from it, and today it came to fruition.
It’s a bit of a tricky pitch but we’ve got a good batting line-up so it should be a good chase.
It’s so exciting having so many good seamers available for selection. It’s good for the group and good for all of us.
42nd over: New Zealand 211-8 (Rowe 9, Penfold 1) New Zealand did well to pilfer 24 from the last three overs, which means England’s target is 212. Bell leads England off, beaming as she raises the ball to crowd: she finished with outstanding figures of 9-0-37-5 and bowled beautifully at the death.
Her first wicket was the most important: Sophie Devine bowled for a run-a-ball 43. New Zealand were never able to get away after that: in the second half of the innings they scored 102 for 6 off 21 overs.
WICKET! New Zealand 207-8 (Down c Sciver-Brunt b Bell 14)
Lauren Bell gets her first five-for in international cricket! Another terrific slower ball is spooned to mid-off, where Sciver-Brunt takes the catch and instantly breaks into a beaming smile. The England players are all so happy for Bell.
41st over: New Zealand 202-7 (Down 14, Rowe 2) After four singles from five balls, Lauren Down walks down the track to wallop Sciver-Brunt down the ground for a one-bounce four. Shot!
One over to go, with Lauren Bell hoping to get her first five-for in international cricket.
“Wanted to point out to readers that Sky Sports filmed a feature last night at a local pub in Bristol, the Old England,” says Tom Barrington. “We have a Sunday cricket team and one of the few pubs in the UK to have its own cricket nets out the back! The whole club are tuned in, waiting for the interval to see our captain mumble through a vox pop after he’d enjoyed a hearty weekend at Glastonbury. Nets tonight from 6pm for anyone who wants to join in!”
‘Hearty weekend at Glastonbury’ is a marvellous phrase that may well be adapted for these pages.
40th over: New Zealand 194-7 (Down 8, Rowe 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! New Zealand 194-7 (Gaze c Sciver-Brunt b Bell 4)
Lauren Bell gets another wicket, and as things stand these are career-best figures of 4/28. It was a lovely slower ball that the dangerous Gaze launched high in the air; Nat Sciver-Brunt did the rest.
39th over: New Zealand 187-6 (Gaze 3, Down 2) Pace at both ends now, with Sciver-Brunt back on for Dean (8-0-39-0). It definitely looks tougher against the seamers, who have combined figures of 23-0-92-5; the spinners have managed 16-0-92-0.
38th over: New Zealand 183-6 (Gaze 1, Down 0) That could be the decisive over of the match.
“There’s a lot of sport on, isn’t there?” says Andrew Miles. “Is there some form of ranking system for the various events currently running, so allow us to prioritise our time effectively?
“I’m sure that it’s down to personal preferences, but I’d go with:
1. Cricket of all varieties
2. Rugby union summer tours
3. European football championship
4. Wimbledon
5. Tour de France.”
I see you haven’t mentioned the darts, specifically today’s Players Championship 14 in Milton Keynes. I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.
WICKET! New Zealand 182-6 (Halliday c Jones b Bell 31)
Two wickets in the over for Lauren Bell, and the two set batters as well! Halliday gloved a pull down the leg side, where Jones took a smooth diving catch.
WICKET! New Zealand 181-5 (Kerr LBW b Bell 57)
A timely breakthrough from Lauren Bell. Kerr missed a vigorous slap across the line and was hit on the back thigh in front of middle. The ringer went up and, when Kerr reviewed, replays supported Anna Harris’s decision. Kerr goes for a well-made 57.
37th over: New Zealand 178-4 (A Kerr 57, Halliday 31) Halliday slog-sweeps Dean for four, an inelegant but very effective stroke. Dean then makes a good stop off her own bowling to keep New Zealand to six from the over. England will take that.
“Really enjoyed an unseen interaction on the boundary during the last over,” says Michael Jelley. “Sophie Ecclestone in hi viz making a nuisance of herself, making Alice Capsey laugh and giving chat as the bowler comes in. Speaks well of the camaraderie in the side. Bristol going chilly and grey, but no sign of rain at the moment…”
I think there might be a bit more around 7pm, but we should get a game. Sophie Ecclestone’s personality reminds me a bit of Jasprit Bumrah, the happy-go-lucky genius of men’s cricket.
