England ran rampant at Durham in their opening one-day international against New Zealand on Wednesday, bowling their opponents out for 156 within 34 overs before reaching the target with nine wickets and 172 balls to spare – their biggest win against New Zealand in terms of balls remaining.
The knockout blow came immediately after the 10-over powerplay, with the loss of four Kiwi wickets for 19 runs in 27 balls: New Zealand collapsed from 56 for one to 75 for five and never recovered.
England’s decision to play three frontline spinners on a pitch which had been deliberately left uncovered the previous day amid the mini-English heatwave (21C at Chester-le-Street) proved a savvy call, with seven of the 10 wickets falling to spin.
It set up a straightforward run chase for Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont, who took advantage of some too-short balls from Molly Penfold and too-wide ones from Hannah Rowe to get off to a flyer, reaching their century partnership in style with a six apiece and dual half-centuries in the 14th over, bowled by Melie Kerr.
If England’s tour of New Zealand in April had been the premiere for this new‑look opening pair, this was the matinee, surely sealing their positions at the top of the order before the 50‑over World Cup in India next year.
Bouchier was caught on the ring for 67 but Beaumont had a Fran Jonas lbw decision overturned by DRS to ensure she was on hand as the winning runs were scored by Heather Knight, leaving the Chester-le-Street crowd the chance to hit pub gardens three hours earlier than anticipated.
Surprisingly, Alice Capsey – after missing Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day on Saturday – was again absent, going unselected in an ODI for the first time since her debut in September 2022. But Wednesday was mainly the story of England’s bowlers.
It was Georgia Plimmer’s unfortunate dismissal which started the collapse, after New Zealand had initially caressed 40 runs from the first five overs having chosen to bat. Her fluent, career-best 29 ended when Kerr drove straight down the ground: the ball ricocheted off Plimmer’s foot, allowing Bouchier to retrieve it from short midwicket, throw in to Amy Jones and run Plimmer out.
From there, it was England’s spinners who delivered the goods – Sophie Ecclestone removing Kerr and Sophie Devine in successive overs, before Charlie Dean punched a hole in the middle order, finishing with four for 38 in her consecutive nine-over spell.
“We want to enjoy our cricket and show off our skills, but we also want to dominate at the same time. It was incredibly ruthless today and a bit of a statement at the start of a series,” Beaumont said. “With the spinners, you run out of adjectives to describe how good they are.”
Only the left-hander Brooke Halliday showed any resistance, coming down the track to punish Dean for six runs over the top en route to a 59-ball half-century, before top‑edging into the leg side to finally bring New Zealand’s misery to an end.
England will be licking their lips in anticipation of their next outing at Worcester on Sunday.
