Knight rides to the rescue as England complete 5-0 sweep of New Zealand
Captain finds form after Jonas onslaught before bowlers close ranks to complete 20-run win at Lord's
Captain finds form after Jonas onslaught before bowlers close ranks to complete 20-run win at Lord's
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: @Sudarshanan7
England players now pose behind the banner that says "Winners 2024". Lots of smiles in that camp after a really successful summer, evidenced by this stat from Hypocaust: "This is the first time England women have won 13 matches in a home summer. Their previous best was 12 in both 2008 and 2012." England have really warmed up well for the T20 World Cup, but now disperse for the Hundred. That brings us to the end of our coverage of this tour. Do keep an eye out for Valkerie Baynes' report and post-series copies. Till the next time, take care. Ciao!
9:18pm Time for the presentation
Sarah Glenn, Player of the Series: "I am really enjoying out there. We are playing fearless cricket, that's bringing the best out of me. It is the communication, about what works against certain players on certain pitches. Always trying to work on building variations, different plans in the powerplay, in the middle overs."
Sophie Devine, New Zealand captain: "We played with a smile on the field. The way Fran Jonas bowled was outstanding. We leaked a few in the back end. Disappointed with the finish. We have learnt a few things, dealt with a strong England side. Have key events coming up. Was a long tour, hard one for us. Need to look in the mirror and learn. We as individuals need to work hard and see what we can do to win big games. We spoke about soaking in the atmosphere. It is one of my last, not always you get to play at Lord's."
Heather Knight, England captain and Player of the Match: "It's a situation I was in in few times. Want to be aggressive. Lord's can be a tricky surface. Charlie came and did well. Feels nice to contribute and finish off the summer with a win. Against Pakistan we were good, but we felt we can be better. Throughout the New Zealand series, we played how we wanted to. We played hard, we played smart, were ruthless. Pleasure to play here at Lord's and fed off that energy and wanted to entertain the people who paid to come and watch us. The girls coped with a few changes, that has been pleasing. Changing the team has been deliberate, things can go wrong in tournament cricket, so preparing for that. Picking the World Cup XI is going to be hard. We are pretty close, it is on us to keep improving. We are in a good spot, need to keep building. Seeing development is a cool thing to see."
9:06pm It is the first time New Zealand have failed to win a single game in a five-T20I series. And these are worrying signs for them ahead of the T20 World Cup in October. Their bowlers had things under control till the Knight-Dean partnership. And then with the bat, they were yet again left wanting. The middle order failed to get them over the line and their chase frittered away quite meekly eventually. They faced 52 dots in their innings, something they can't afford to chasing a total in excess of 150. Lots of smiles and hugs in the England camp, as they have notched up a clinical win in their 200th T20I.
Ecclestone remained wicketless for the first time in 34 international innings across formats. But that did not spell trouble for England. Bell chipped in with three wickets, Kemp contributed with a couple while Dean also chipped in with two. It is a bowling unit that is firing in unison unlike their opposition's batting unit.
Eden Carson is the penultimate batter for New Zealand
IC Gaze b Bell 5 (9m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Bell to finish things off
Head coach Jon Lewis challenges his players to dominate the Hundred as T20 World Cup looms
Captain finds form after Jonas onslaught before bowlers close ranks to complete 20-run win at Lord's
Deafeat in a T20I they should have won in New Zealand was a "fire-starter" for England, captain says