England crush New Zealand in final group match but Ecclestone injured
England finished the group stages of the World Cup with a dominant eight-wicket win against a limp New Zealand, after bowling them out for 168 in 38.2 overs.Sophie Devine’s final one-day international ended in disappointment after the 36-year-old departed caught behind off Nat Sciver-Brunt on 23, sparking a collapse in which New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 13 runs.Devine did chime in with a final wicket, trapping Heather Knight lbw for 33, but, despite being surrounded with close fielders in the next over, Amy Jones was able to sneak the winning boundary through the off side, finishing unbeaten on 86 as England won with 124 balls to spare.The only downsides were that Danni Wyatt-Hodge, finally brought into the XI in place of Emma Lamb, faced just seven balls before presumably playing in the semi-final in three days’ time, while Sophie Ecclestone injured a shoulder while fielding.
The result had no bearing on the semi-final lineups: England will play South Africa in Guwahati on Wednesday, before table-toppingAustralia face India in Navi Mumbai in Thursday’s last-four encounter,The win could, nevertheless, be crucial, because it puts England second in the group,Should the semi-final be washed out, England would progress at the expense of third-placed South Africa,A reserve day is in place but the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday in Guwahati looks decidedly iffy and it may be that the rain, which has blighted this tournament, has the last laugh,“To finish second is a great thing for us and we were obviously chasing that today,” Jones said.
“New Zealand got off to a decent start but I thought we pulled it back brilliantly,It felt like a fairly clinical performance, so we’re pleased,”England’s dominance came despite the fact Ecclestone was able to bowl only four balls, after landing awkwardly on her left shoulder while diving in the deep,She left the field for treatment, came back briefly to take the wicket of Brooke Halliday, but was unable to complete the over and did not return to the field,It is not yet known if she will be fit to feature against South Africa.
It was fortunate for England that New Zealand’s poor batting ensured the absence of Ecclestone was not felt,As it was, Sophia Dunkley – who has not turned her arm over in an ODI in more than three years and bowled just two overs for Surrey this summer – only had to send down 2,2 overs,New Zealand’s disappointment will be more acute given their batters squandered a promising start of 85 for one from 18 overs, after Linsey Smith struggled to find the right length to bowl in the powerplay,Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionBut Amelia Kerr was caught on the rope trying to loft Alice Capsey down the ground, while Georgia Plimmer departed in the next over, trapped lbw by Charlie Dean.
New Zealand then struggled to find any further momentum and lost their heads – Maddy Green plonked a return catch into the hands of Capsey, Jess Kerr was run out, and Smith came back strongly at the end of the innings to bowl Izzy Gaze and finish with figures of three for 30.As expected, emotions had been high during the anthems, with Devine struggling to hold back tears.She came to the crease wearing the pounamu necklace with which her teammates had presented her earlier in the tournament, surviving for 35 balls before England invoked the decision review system to see her off.“I didn’t cry as much as I thought I was going to,” Devine told Sky Sports.“For me it was never about the result today – it was about finishing out here with my mates.
I’m so humbled and fortunate that I’ve got to do this for 19 years.”
Shaun Wane requires herculean Ashes effort after England’s Wembley mauling
The scoreline alone offers concrete evidence of how underwhelming England were against Australia in the first Ashes Test on Saturday, but if anyone needed further proof, a glimpse around the Wembley crowd was somewhat telling, too.As a one-sided contest ebbed towards a predictable conclusion, there were cheers among those sitting near the press box. Not for an England try, but for a paper aeroplane crafted by a home supporter that had successfully made its way from the top of one tier on to the pitch. It was about the only thing that went right for those of an English persuasion.The beauty of a three-Test series is that no matter what happens in the first match there is an opportunity to bounce back
England crush New Zealand in final group match but Ecclestone injured
England finished the group stages of the World Cup with a dominant eight-wicket win against a limp New Zealand, after bowling them out for 168 in 38.2 overs.Sophie Devine’s final one-day international ended in disappointment after the 36-year-old departed caught behind off Nat Sciver-Brunt on 23, sparking a collapse in which New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 13 runs.Devine did chime in with a final wicket, trapping Heather Knight lbw for 33, but, despite being surrounded with close fielders in the next over, Amy Jones was able to sneak the winning boundary through the off side, finishing unbeaten on 86 as England won with 124 balls to spare. The only downsides were that Danni Wyatt-Hodge, finally brought into the XI in place of Emma Lamb, faced just seven balls before presumably playing in the semi-final in three days’ time, while Sophie Ecclestone injured a shoulder while fielding
England beat New Zealand by eight wickets: Women’s Cricket World Cup – as it hapened
Righto, that’s all from us today. England progress in style and New Zealand legend Sophie Devine bows out. We’ll be back to bring you all the action from the semi-finals and final in the coming week. Enjoy your Sunday – goodbye!Here’s England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt:“We really wanted to put in a performance today. The way that we’ve gone about cricket in this tournament has been largely successful and so we’re happy to put in that performance and take some confidence into the semi-final
Mitchell steers New Zealand home with Brook’s 135 not enough to save England
A chaotically entertaining game characterised by batting that was either sensational or – more frequently – shambolic was settled by Daryl Mitchell’s ability to find serenity amid the calamity.Mitchell’s sober 78 not out, most notably assisted by Michael Bracewell (51), took a side floundering at 24 for three in pursuit of a superficially straightforward target and set them on the path to victory, wrapped up by four wickets and with 13.2 overs to spare.But if England were eclipsed it was their captain, Harry Brook, who shone brightest in compiling a century of phenomenal skill and judgment. His knock of 135 could not save his side from defeat, but it did rescue them from humiliation
New Zealand beat England by four wickets in first men’s ODI – as it happened
Simon’s report is in so I’ll call it a day (at 8am). Cheers!Brook is the player of the match. For all of his obvious gifts, that knock is also a bit of a breakthrough for him in this format. He didn’t get too many in the recent series against South Africa and his career average, in the mid-30s, doesn’t match up to his talents.Well, the game was decided quite a while back but we still got something resembling a contest: that seemed out of reach when England were 10 for four and then 56 for six
Lando Norris claims F1 Mexico City GP pole as teammate Oscar Piastri falters
Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, with a superb lap for McLaren at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The Briton left his title rivals in his wake and in so doing earned a chance to make a major impact on the championship standings and potentially retake the lead.Enjoying a huge boost to his world championship ambitions, Norris delivered perhaps his best lap of the season in qualifying, to beat the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into second and third. Of greater import was that his fellow title protagonists Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, Norris’s McLaren teammate, could manage only fifth and eighth fastest respectively.The pole was a real statement of intent from Norris and McLaren and exactly the riposte they required after the recent momentum Verstappen has gathered as he closed the gap to the leaders
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