New Zealand's T20 World Cup Title Defence Ends with Soggy Loss to England

New Zealand’s World Cup title defence came to a soggy end at the Oval on Saturday night, as England danced home by nine wickets in a one-sided hammering thanks to a 128-run partnership between Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley. The crowd of 21,018 was a record for a Women’s T20 World Cup group-stage match. England have topped Group B and will more than likely face either India or South Africa in next week’s semi-final, pending the result of Sunday’s Group A clash between Australia and India. The result also means that West Indies have qualified for the semi-finals at New Zealand’s expense. England’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, told the BBC: “To put in that performance on the ground where we are going to play a semi-final is really pleasing. I am really proud of the group. “We are going in with the most confidence we have ever done into a semi-final and with a lot of belief. We are one game away from a Lord’s final, which has always been the goal.” New Zealand had chosen to bat first but a sharp fielding display from England, epitomised by Charlie Dean’s direct hit from extra cover to run out Brooke Halliday, prevented them from reaching more than 163 for six. The reigning champions showed flashes of brilliance but also lost wickets in clusters, collapsing from 70 without loss to 70 for three in the space of four balls, before the loss of both Halliday and Sophie Devine in the 16th over again slowed them up. In reply, Wyatt-Hodge continued her excellent run of form, adding 89 runs to build a tournament tally of 282. Dunkley – once again playing in place of the injured Nat Sciver-Brunt and again making a hefty contribution with the bat – has thrown up an interesting dilemma for Edwards ahead of the semi-final. Sciver-Brunt is expected to return, but can you really drop the player who has now made winning contributions to two of England’s group-stage games? A brief shower forced the players from the field seven overs into the run chase with England well ahead on DLS, but the respite lasted just 15 minutes for the embattled Kiwis and England returned to pull off the chase with 16 balls to spare. For New Zealand, this was a crushing disappointment. Earlier in the day, Ireland’s historic win against West Indies at Bristol – their first ever victory in a T20 World Cup – had handed the reigning champions a lifeline: a win against England would see them scrape through to the semi-finals. As the news broke at the Oval, the team paused mid-warm-up to celebrate their fate once again being in their own hands – but the celebrations did not last for very long. “It’s been a disappointing campaign for us,” the New Zealand captain, Melie Kerr, said. “I look back to our first two games – catches win matches and unfortunately we couldn’t hold onto them. We were outplayed tonight.” There was added pathos given that this is the last time we will see three greats of New Zealand cricket out in the middle: Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu have all announced their intention to retire immediately after this World Cup. Devine showed that her ball-hitting is just as mighty at the age of 36 as it ever was, sending three sixes sailing into the stands as she amassed 30 from just 14 balls. Bates then added vital impetus at the back end by taking 15 runs off Freya Kemp’s 18th over before being run out by Amy Jones off the final ball. But Devine couldn’t quite match her batting heroics with the ball, offering up short and wide servings to Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge. Bates, whose slow off-spin had proved a winner at the death against Ireland earlier in the tournament, was not required to bowl, while Tahuhu – a veteran of 100 T20 international wickets – ended her New Zealand career by sending down a leg-side wide. At the close, England lined up on the Oval outfield to see the three veterans off in a guard of honour. But if you wanted to see a fitting end to the era of the self-styled Kiwi “grandmas”, this was not really what you would have scripted.