Key events
5th over: England 14-0 (Beaumont 9, Bouchier 5) Bouchier feels outside off and the swing beats her, then Halliday cuts off a drive; she wants to get things moving. She really wants to get things moving, looking to flick with swing and over midwicket but not getting enough of it; the ball drops just short of Melie Kerr and they run one. Oh, and of course Beaumont wants to get on with it too, scampering down to hoist four down the ground; immediately, Isabella Gaze comes up; “Should’ve done two overs ago,” muses Alex Hartley in comms.
4th over: England 9-0 (Beaumont 5, Bouchier 4) Rowe’s really running in hard, but after two dots Beaumont is irritated to miss out on half-volley. Another one – another dot that is – follows, then a full-toss at the body – I like that! – and a push to the fielder at mid on compltes the maiden. NZ will like the start they’ve made, but England will be satisfied to still have their openers in the middle.
3rd over: England 9-0 (Beaumont 5, Bouchier 4) Two dots, then a clever slower-ball yorker on a fifth-stump line – very nice from Kerr J. So Beaumont comes down and turns to leg for one – she’s so hard to bowl to because she’s so proactive – which is the only run from a decent over.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Beaumont 4, Bouchier 4) It’s Hannah Rowe to open from the other end but before that, there’s an enquiry about the ball and out comes the box of spares; Rowe picks one and off we go again. In comms, they discuss how the players choose, and I always think of Jimmy Anderson when this comes up: he likes the dark ones that feel small in your hand, though I’m not sure how the former translates to a white meteor. Anyroad, Rowe finds decent shape, but when she offers width, Bouchier cuts … but picks out Plimmer at point, then again next ball. No matter, more width, a stretch to make sure, and four hurtling through cover point.
1st over: England 4-0 (Beaumont 4, Bouchier 0) Good start, an in-ducker on Beaumont, but then some width; Bates stops a firm shove at cover. Then again, Beaumont goes hard to no avail, Kerr taking the sting out of a drive down the pitch, and eventually she finds the gap, rocking back to cut four through backward point.
Jess Kerr has the new globule.
Here come our batters…
Lea Tahuhu says that they’ve had a little chat, looked at things individually and as a team, and are taking the positives from a decent performance in the last match – it’s just about tweaking that last 10%.
Amy Jones is loving NZ. She says on as well as off the pitch it’s been enjoyable, they had a good little hit yesterday and are ready for today. They’ve had some good discussions as a batting group about communication and how they can work together in saying the right things at the right time under pressure.
There’s a bit of sun but not much grass, and the pitch report is that it’s a batter’s day – but with something for the bowlers early doors.
I’m looking forward to watching more Maia Bouchier – on a track that should help her. If she gets going, she could make something serious.
New Zealand, of course, are without captain Sophie Devine. As noted by Kerr A at the toss, though, Suzie Bates has plenty of experience in the role, though even if they don’t miss her as a skipper, as a player no her is a problem.
Any other contact-lens wearers feel half asleep when they’re in glasses? I’ve just cleaned mine, and discovered it helps a bit; I’ve been wearing them 38 years.
Teams!
England: Beaumont, Bouchier, Knight, Sciver-Brunt, Capsey, Wyatt, Jones, Dean, Ecclestone, Cross, Bell.
New Zealand: Bates, Bezuidenhout, Kerr A, Plimmer, Green, Halliday, Gaze, Rowe, Kerr J, Tahuhu, Jonas.
Amelia Kerr says NZ got a great start last time and put England under pressure; this time it’s about breaking partnerships. She’s not captained much 50-over cricket before, so this is great experience for her, and she reckons it’s about finding ways to maintain pressure. The problem, she thinks is mental not technical – they need to be brave and take positive options under pressure. Her team too are unchanged.
England win the toss and will bat!
It looks a decent track, reckons Heather Knight, and it’s a high-scoring ground so she wants to set a target. Her team are unchanged.
Toss time. Hamilton looks lovely as ever…
Preamble
A key characteristic of a good team is that when they need saving, someone, sometimes someone you don’t expect, stands up to save them – Gus Logie and Jeff Dujon made careers out of doing it, Andy Bichel did it when his side had never needed it more, and Amy Jones did it for England last time out.
But another key characteristic of a good team is elite players who excel consistently – just look at Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and chums. And that, perhaps, is the area in which this already excellent England team can look to improve: they have lots of talent, but to win the big pots they need to retain all of Column A while adding a little to Column B.
New Zealand, meanwhile – though doing well for periods – are struggling to play well enough for long enough to seriously trouble England. So given that, in the longer limited-overs format, it’s harder for a single player to dominate the game, the tourists start as warm favourites. But things can change very quickly.
Play: 11am local, 11pm BST
