Review: England vs. New Zealand – 2nd Match in Women's International T20 Series
New Zealand narrowly escaped defeat as England lost the second T20 international by four runs in the NatWest Women’s T20 Series. Having won the first match of the series under captain Charlotte Edwards, England were somewhat unlucky to lose the second match, giving New Zealand the opportunity to level the series. The final match of the NatWest series will be played today on the 2nd of July which will determine the winner of the series.
In the first match of the series, Edwards opened the batting for England, scoring an impressive 46 which was the highest score of the match. This was followed by Claire Taylor’s 34 and Lydia Greenway’s 23. Lydia performed well and impressed all and sundry by breaking records to be the first player to take four catches in an International T20 match. Her performance in the middle earned her the player-of-the-match award. Lydia is best known as a left-handed batsman and an occasional off-spin bowler. So far, she has appeared in seven Test matches for England at the highest level along with thirty-two One Day International matches. She toured Australia in 2008 and is one of the youngest players who participated in the 2009 World Cup and World T20 Championships. She is also considered as one of the best outfielders in the game.
England defended their modest total brilliantly as they held New Zealand at bay with their impressive bowling and fielding. Danielle Hazell and Anya Shrubsole took two wickets each. Edwards was full of praise for her bowlers as she went on record and said, “The bowlers performed fantastically well today, I was after a big performance from the team and they delivered. Hopefully this is the start of things to come this summer, we need to take this performance forward with us”.
England took on New Zealand again at the Rose Bowl, but this time the match went in New Zealand’s favour. Sarah Taylor scored the highest score with an impressive 78, but it wasn’t enough to stop New Zealand from dominating the match. England lost the toss and had to bowl first and did their best to restrict the opposition to a score of 147 runs but New Zealand’s performance had improved drastically since the last match and they went on to win the match.
England Captain Charlotte Edwards was unlucky to be run out on the first ball as England was tottering at a score of 29/4 in the sixth over. Sarah Taylor led a spirited comeback who made 78 runs along with Jenny Gunn who had 24 runs. They broke the fifth wicket partnership record to bring their side back into the game. Taylor’s six fours and her third international T20 half-century, which came from only 44 balls, gave the team renewed hope.
However, the New Zealand bowlers, Amy Sattherwaite and Lucy Doolan took important wickets to restrict England in the final stages of the match to clinch an important win. Edwards was proud of the fight that her team put up in the match against New Zealand. After the match, she said, “We didn’t get off the best start, but fought back well. Sarah played fantastically well, as did Jenny Gunn. We just couldn’t quite finish it off. I’m looking forward to tomorrow; we’ve got everything to play for”.
Tags: