CWG 2022, Bronze medal match, England Women vs New Zealand Women: Sophie Devine’s 51*, 2-11, Hayley Jensen’s 3/24 help New Zealand win bronze at CWG 2022. Top Performances from Bronze medal match.
Brief Scores: NZ-W 111/2 (Devine 51*, Kerr 21*, Sciver 1/8) beat ENG-W 110/9 (Sciver 27, Jensen 3/24, Devine 2/11) by eight wickets and clinch CWG 2022 Bronze
England who faced their first defeat of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in a close encounter against India in the first semi-final, took on New Zealand who after a hard fight lost to Australia in the second semi-final, in the bronze medal match of the Commonwealth Games Women’s Cricket Competition 2022 at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday.
England captain Natalie Sciver, on winning the toss decided to bat first. Both sides went into the game with an unchanged eleven.
All-round performance from New Zealand helps them win CWG 2022 bronze
Opting to bat first, England struggled from the very first over to get some momentum in scoring runs. They lost Danielle Wyatt in the second over and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals to be reduced to 57/5 at the halfway mark. There was a tiny 37-run stand between Sophie Ecclestone and Amy Jones but a superb bowling performance from the White Ferns restricted England to 110/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
New Zealand openers spoiled the dreams of England in defending that low score when Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates notched up a fifty-run opening stand within the fifth over of the game. England did hit back with a couple of wickets but the White Ferns reached 95/2 at the halfway stage.
Sophie Devine thanks to her unbeaten 51 in 40 balls carried New Zealand over the line to clinch the Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medal.
Let’s take a look at the top performances from the bronze medal match between England Women and New Zealand Women at Edgbaston, CWG 2022.
Terrific Hayley Jansen (3/24) murdered England
The 29-year-old White Ferns bowler, Hayley Jensen has been in decent form in this tournament. In a huge bronze medal match, she shined the most with the new ball in hand.
With her first ball of the game, she got rid of Danielle Wyatt on a personal score of 4, who hit a good length ball straight into the hands of Suzie Bates at cover. It was her only over in the powerplay.
Later, when she was brought back into the attack late in the game, Jensen who had 33 WT20I wickets in 44 games prior to this game, went through the gates of Amy Jones on a personal score of 26, who went down trying to sweep only to find the stumps flying out of the ground. On the fourth ball of the same over, Jensen with a perfect yorker uprooted the furniture of Issy Wong for a two-ball duck.
Jensen, who got seven wickets in CWG 2022 at an average of 14.29, returned figures of 3/24 in her four overs to keep England on 110/9 at the end.
Read More: CWG 2022, SF 2, AUS-W vs NZ-W: Schutt’s 3-20, McGrath’s all-round prowess take Australia to Final
NZ captain Sophie Devine’s fabulous all-round show (51* & 2/11)
NZ captain Sophie Devine has been in superb form for New Zealand with both bat and ball, and she displayed another stellar performance in the bronze medal match.
Being introduced for the first time in the game in the seventh over, Devine sent back aggressive looking England captain Nat Sciver who went for a hack across the line at a good length delivery to see the stumps flying for a personal score of 27 in 19 balls.
Coming for her second over in the 18th over of the game, Devine who had 102 WT20I scalps in 106 games prior to Sunday’s game, employed a full length delivery with subtle change of pace to dismiss Sophie Ecclestone for a personal score of 18. Devine ended with figures of 2/11 in her three overs.
Devine with bat in hand shared a 54-run partnership with opener Suzie Bates. However, the 32-year-old player took her time in the middle before smashing two back-to-back boundaries; one was driven square of point while the second one was sliced in the same region.
Devine, who had 2718 runs in 106 WT20I games prior to this game, launched a short ball from Sciver over the deep mid-wicket boundary for a six. Later, she whacked one length delivery through mid-wicket before pulling a length ball through the same region for her fifth boundary.
With a boundary heaved into the leg side over deep mid-wicket saw NZ captain Sophie Devine celebrating her 17th WT20I fifty in just 39 balls, as she helped the White Ferns to win bronze with a win by eight wickets.
Devine finished the tournament with 153 runs at an average of 51, besides pocketing six wickets.
Read Moe: CWG 2022, SF 1, ENG-W vs IND-W: Smriti 61, Deepti & Rana’s bowling book India’s place in Top 2
Fran Jonas made valuable contribution with 2/22
The 18-year-old Fran Jonas has shown the world that she is going to have a long bright future due to her great abilities with the ball.
Jonas was decent in her first two overs giving away just 14 runs. When she came back for her third over in the tenth over of the game, Jonas with a full straight delivery trapped Maia Bouchier on a personal score of 4.
In her next over, the left-arm spinner with a tossed-up ball encouraged Katherine Brunt for a huge shot. Brunt went for a huge hit but couldn’t get enough of it being caught in the hands of long-on fielder on a personal score of 4.
Fran Jonas, who before this game had just a solitary wicket in three WT20I games, ended with figures of 2/22 in four overs.
What’s to Come
England will clash with India in a three-match T20I series starting on September 10 at the Riverside Ground in Chester-Le-Street. New Zealand, on the other hand, after a long break will meet Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series beginning on December 2 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Read More: CWG 2022, IND-W vs PAK-W: Rana’s 2-15, Renuka’s 1-20, Smiriti’s 63* help India demolish Pakistan
