English opening player Tammy Beaumont scored her second half century in a row
| New Zealand 192 (49.5 overs): Halliday 60 (80); Sciver 3-26 |
| England 194-3 (37.4 overs): Beaumont 72 * (112), Sciver 63 (61), Jones 46 * (45) |
| England won by seven wickets; Lead series 2-0 |
| Scorecard |
England secured a straight win over New Zealand with an all-out seven-wicket win in their second one-day international match in Dunedin.
The hosts fell to 34-5 and were sacked with a ball despite Brooke Hallidays 60 points for 192.
England opener Tammy Beaumont scored an unbeaten 72 in response, supported by 63 from Nat Sciver, who had previously won 3-26.
Wicketkeeper Amy Jones added 46 to help tourists hit their 12.2 overs goal.
The win gives England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series. The last ODI will take place on Saturday at 10:00 PM GMT at the University Oval in Dunedin.
It is also England’s 10th straight win in all formats.
“We hadn’t played ODIs in a long time so we wanted to take the first step in this series,” said Sciver, who was named Player of the Game.
“We are in a really good place and we hope that we can win the third ODI too.”
Sciver stars as England repeats an easy win
Nat Sciver took 3-26 of nine overs before hitting 63
The pattern of this game was similar to that in England Eight wicket win over the White Ferns in the series Opener, which was her first one-day national player since December 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Several bowlers made important contributions to keeping the hosts below average before England’s top order took them largely calmly.
Fast-paced bowler Katherine Brunt did instant damage, removing New Zealand openers Natalie Dodd and Hayley Jensen in their first two overs.
Sciver sacked Kiwi captain Sophie Devine for six before bowling Amelia Kerr with a lovely inswinger to leave the hosts 27-4 within eight overs.
Kate Cross was 13 years behind when she returned to join Amy Satterthwaite before Katey Martin and Halliday led a brief recovery.
But when leg spinner Sarah Glenn caught up 2-37, and Sciver Halliday for good when Jones made her third catch and two run-outs, New Zealand hit another grand total that England likely wouldn’t mind.
That was also the case after Danni Wyatt’s opening game for a two-ball duck, and captain Heather Knight was sent off by Devine for eight minutes to leave England 12-2.
Beaumont and Sciver responded with consummate punches – the former struck its second half-century in a row with 72 balls out of 112, and Sciver crushed five fours and a six in her 63 balls out of 61.
England were already on their way to a quick win when Sciver fell to Halliday, but Jones made it even clearer and hit eight fours in his 46 of 45 balls to lead the Tourists to 194-3 in 37.4 overs.
The White Ferns have now lost their last 11 ODIs, but England will rightly look forward to another clinical win when it comes to defending their World Cup title in New Zealand in just over a year.
