New Zealand Defeated 155 for 3 (Dewayne 60, Kerr 44*). England 152 for 8 (Bouchier 71, Bates 2-4) by three runs
Final on the play
Much to Daniel Gibson’s disbelief, there was a hint of controversy with the last ball of the final over from Devine, which looked wide but was not called. This meant England needed eight off the last ball and Devine threw the ball to the veteran Bates, who had not been used up to that point in the innings.
Devine hits her stride
New Zealand had a solid powerplay, reaching 40 for no loss, but England again threatened to stifle the innings when both openers departed. Devine and Kerr were initially in unison before the skipper began to open her shoulders, including taking 15 runs off Lynsey Smith in the final over.
Devine reached his half-century in 30 balls when he lifted Dean for his second six of the innings, but Gibson ended the innings with a terrific final over that saw New Zealand just four runs short of 160. Overall he scored 90 runs in his second 10 overs and scored 55 runs. In the final five, Devine questioned after the game whether he might have gone too hard a little earlier.
Bouchier’s Blitz
Sophia Dunkley was run out by Rosemary Mair in the second over, but Bouchier gave England the early momentum when she took Mair for four consecutive boundaries in the fifth over. At the end of the powerplay. England scored 60 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.
Bouchier couldn’t get through the gears in the first two matches but was very impressive here as he brought up his maiden T20I half-century in 33 balls. In total he hit 11 boundaries and one six, which meant that 50 boundaries came out of his 71 runs.
Sarah Glenn dropped out
In the sixth over, Glenn dropped a catch at mid-off and hit her head in the outfield in the process. She did not appear to be tested immediately and came on to bowl the seventh over stumped by Bates to give England their first breakthrough. However, after some time, she left the field and never returned. In the interim it was confirmed that she had failed a concussion test and Armitage was replaced to make her T20I debut.
“Sarah Glenn had a head injury assessment (HIA) and has not passed,” an ECB spokesman said. “Sarah will be assessed later today to determine next steps.”
Losing Glenn for a while will be a blow to England’s attack, but that will be offset by the return of Sophie Ecclestone with players from the WPL available from the fourth match of the series in Wellington.