England secure a series victory over New Zealand with an assured seven-wicket win in the second one-day international in Dunedin.
| 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 |
The hosts fell to 34-5 and, despite Brooke Halliday scoring 60, were dismissed for 192 with a ball to spare.
England opener Tammy Beaumont hit an unbeaten 72 in reply, backed by 63 from Nat Sciver, who had earlier taken 3-26.
Wicketkeeper Amy Jones added 46 not out to help the tourists reach their target with 12.2 overs to spare.
Victory gives England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, with the final ODI also taking place at the University Oval in Dunedin at 22:00 GMT on Saturday.
It is also England’s 10th consecutive win across all formats.
“We hadn’t played ODIs for a long time so we wanted to hit the ground running in this series,” said Sciver, who was named player of the match.
“We are in a really good place and hopefully we can wrap up victory in the third ODI too.”
Sciver stars as England repeat easy win
The pattern of this match was similar to England’s comfortable eight-wicket win over the White Ferns in the series opener, which was their first one-day international since December 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several bowlers made key contributions to restrict the hosts to a sub-par total, before England’s top order chased it down in largely serene fashion.
Fast bowler Katherine Brunt did immediate damage, removing New Zealand openers Natalie Dodd and Hayley Jensen in her first two overs.
Sciver dismissed Kiwi captain Sophie Devine for six, before bowling Amelia Kerr with a beautiful inswinger to leave the hosts 27-4 inside eight overs.
Kate Cross, on her return to the side, had Amy Satterthwaite caught behind for 13, before Katey Martin and Halliday led a brief recovery,
But with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn picking up 2-37, Sciver finally removing Halliday as Jones took her third catch, and two run outs, New Zealand again posted a total that was unlikely to trouble England.
That still proved to be the case even after opener Danni Wyatt was bowled for a two-ball duck and captain Heather Knight was run out by Devine for eight to leave England 12-2.
Beaumont and Sciver responded with consummate knocks – the former hitting her second half-century in a row, with 72 off 112 balls, and Sciver smashing five fours and one six in her 63 off 61 balls.
England were already on pace for a quick victory when Sciver fell to Halliday, but Jones made it even more emphatic, hitting eight fours in her 46 off 45 balls to guide the tourists to 194-3 in 37.4 overs.
The White Ferns have now lost their past 11 ODIs but England will be rightly pleased with another clinical victory as they build towards defending their World Cup title in New Zealand in just over a year’s time.
