By a margin of 23 runs (DLS method), England 89 for 6 (Capsey 28, Bouchier 23) defeated New Zealand 42 for 5 (Halliday 14, Dean 2-3).
In a rain-affected second T20I in Hove, Charlie Dean tore up a faltering New Zealand line-up, sealing the victory. Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier had guided England to an outstanding score.
The match was reduced to nine overs per side due to the two-hour delay in starting caused by persistent rain. England reached 89 for 6 thanks to a stand of 28 off 15 balls from Capsey and 23 off 15 balls from Bouchier. Dean then took 2 for 3 in an over as New Zealand collapsed to 42 for 5 in 6.4 overs before the rain returned, ending the match even earlier than planned and giving the home team a 2-0 lead in the five-match series that moves to Canterbury on Thursday.
After winning the toss, New Zealand chose to bowl first. They made two changes to the team that lost the first game by 59 runs at Southampton on Saturday: they replaced Fran Jonas and Eden Carson with seamer Hannah Rowe and offspinner Leigh Kasperek. In the meanwhile, England summoned up Dani Gibson to take Freya Kemp and Linsey Smith’s places, and brought back Lauren Bell, who had been rested following her five-wicket performance in the third and final ODI.
Dry, not dull
In the end, Hove’s renowned drainage system and diligent ground crew produced a playfield that was adequately dry. With nine overs each team, the contest was not going to be easy, though. While there were no high scores for any individual, Capsey and Bouchier skillfully located and cleared the boundary, Heather Knight hit three fours in her 14-ball cameo, and Sophie Ecclestone blasted a six off the first ball she faced to finish the England innings in style.
Bouchier needed four balls in a row to reach the boundary, but she did it when she sent a shorter ball from Jess Kerr over square leg and into the stands, and she also scored four runs off Rowe’s opening delivery past midwicket. Capsey arrived and helped herself to back-to-back fours off Sophie Devine, a lap through fine leg and a glance through third, after Danni Wyatt dropped for a third-ball duck. After bouncing off Lea Tahuhu with an edge on her glove, Bouchier managed to recover and reach the boundary twice more. However, her attempt at a third consecutive boundary was unsuccessful as she gave way to Maddy Green at long-on.
When Nat Sciver-Brunt was on three, Georgia Plimmer dismissed a simple chance off Jess Kerr going in from deep square leg. Sciver-Brunt attempted to capitalise when she swung Tahuhu into the grounds of the flats, which sit beyond the fence at deep midwicket. Though Tahuhu pegged back middle stump, she fell minutes after surviving a review for caught behind the next ball. After hitting a six off Jess Kerr over wide mid-off, Capsey sent her third ball over midwicket and into a hospitality tent to welcome Kasperek back to T20Is for the first time in a year. However, she fell on the following ball, which Jess Kerr caught at short third.
With a return catch to remove Knight, Amelia Kerr took two wickets in three balls, luring Gibson down the pitch and smashing the bat as Izzy Gaze pulled off the bails. Ecclestone was left with just one ball to hit, so she forcefully pushed it into the stands from a distance.
Dean defeats damp squib
Devine stepped out to begin with Suzie Bates, promising the biggest fireworks, but at the halfway point, she fell for just 9 spooning Lauren Bell tamely to Capsey. After that, Amelia Kerr trapped Capsey at midwicket off Sciver-Brunt, giving England two valuable wickets in the powerplay’s three overs. Sciver-Brunt parried a Brooke Halliday slog over the rope for six, then collapsed to the ground, rolled over, and lay there, waiting for it to swallow her up. Notwithstanding, Dean was able to dismiss Halliday in the subsequent over, lbw for 14, and New Zealand was reduced to 28 for 3, requiring 62 off 29 balls.
After taking out New Zealand’s last great hope, Bates, for just four runs, Sarah Glenn made a superb catch diving forward from short third. Dean took her second wicket in as many balls when Jess Kerr caught Knight at extra cover, giving Ecclestone her first, and then the rain came back. With 2.2 overs remaining, the players fled the pitch as the rain started to fall. A little while later, the players shook hands, and the weather ultimately decided the outcome using the DLS system, with Dean emerging victorious with remarkable statistics of 1-0-3-2.