Sophie Devine’s Spectacular Century Leads New Zealand to Victory In The 3rd Odis
In a thrilling ODI match between New Zealand and England, Sophie Devine’s incredible century led her team to victory with a seven-wicket win over England.
Jess Kerr and Hannah Rowe both claimed three wickets as England was dismissed for 194 runs.
England 194 (Jones 50, J. Kerr 3-39, Rowe 3-42) lost to New Zealand 195 for 3 (Devine 100*, Green 38*) by seven wickets.
There are twelve runs required to win, twelve more to achieve a century, and so on, but why wait? In the last match of the ODI series, which England won 2-1, Sophie Devine twice dragged Charlie Dean over the fence at deep midwicket, sealing a thrilling century and a resounding consolation win for New Zealand in Hamilton.
With her team at 14 for 2, Devine arrived at the crease and proceeded to smash a century off 93 balls, securing a target of 195 with 11 overs remaining. Maddy Green, who she shared an unbroken partnership of 105 runs with, and Amelia Kerr, who scored 29 of her 31 runs in a 76-run stand with her skipper, provided her with good support.
In her flawless footwork, Devine showed no signs of the quad strain that had kept her out of action since the fourth Twenty20 International. She attacked England’s attack, especially offspinner Dean and quick Lauren Filer, in a typically powerful innings that highlighted her importance to the White Ferns, just when they appeared to be losing a great chance to defeat England.
For the second time in the series, the visitors were dismissed within 50 overs, thanks to three wickets apiece from seamers Jess Kerr and Hannah Rowe, who held them to 194 with 3.3 overs remaining. England had to rely on Player of the Series Amy Jones once more, as her team’s middle-order failures throughout were overcome by her scores of 92 not out, 48, and 50.
This time, after the two had put on a record 130-run stand in the previous game, she hit a run-a-ball half-century and partnered with Dean for 73 runs for the seventh wicket. However, it was unable to fend off what Devine had in store this time.
After Georgia Plimmer, opening for Bernadine Bezuidenhout, hurt her hamstring fielding in the second ODI, chased one outside off stump and edged to wicketkeeper Jones, Kate Cross struck in the third over of the run-chase. Subsequently, Suzie Bates attempted to turn Nat Sciver-Brunt squarer to the leg side, but her leading edge was direct to Maia Bouchier at midwicket.
As Devine and Amelia Kerr settled into the early phases of their connection, the hosts ended the powerplay at 31 for 2. Devine was on 13 when she hit Heather Knight with a hard, acute chance off Filer at slip. In three balls, Devine hit two sixes over deep midwicket, and in five balls, she reached her fifty runs off Dean’s next over, which featured four fours.
Between, at the beginning of her seventh over, Sophie Ecclestone appeared to have a calf issue, but she broke the stand when she trapped Amelia Kerr leg before wicket and left the field to get help. When Ecclestone came back into the game, Jones missed a stumping opportunity from Green, and New Zealand needed 43 runs in 88 balls.
In her fourth one-day international (ODI) of her young international career, Filer, who came in for fellow seamer Lauren Bell in the XI, gave up 17 runs in her sixth over, with 12 of those coming from fours that Devine hit down the wicket. Devine moved within one identical strike of a century with 12 needed as she cleared the deep midwicket fence off Dean by a considerable amount. Two balls later, she replicated the feat.
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In the previous over, Rowe made her first-ever wicket in the contest when she struck Tammy Beaumont on the rear thigh with a ball that was headed straight for the top of leg stump. Meanwhile, Jess Kerr trapped Maia Bouchier at extra cover with a leg-cutter for 19.
although 10 overs, England were 50 for 2, but although Knight and Sciver-Brunt put up 58 runs for the third wicket, they lost 4 for 13 in 34 balls. Amelia Kerr, who was 15 at the time, had a hand in a challenging opportunity but was unable to hold onto a ball that Sciver-Brunt drove back at her. But in the end, she was able to eliminate Sciver-Brunt for 27, which Fran Jonas caught.
After Kerr secured her second wicket, England were 88 for 5 after a full toss that struck Danni Wyatt low on the front pad.
With Knight out for a single and her captain out for 31 after Kerr’s square-leg shot to wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze made it 95 for 6, Jones had another major task before of her and would once more want Dean’s assistance.
As in the first two games of this series, New Zealand appeared to be about to let England off the hook when Jones, 18, moved out of her crease and swung herself around trying to loft a Jonas ball over the leg side. Gaze wasted a stumping opportunity.
At that moment, England were 111 for 6, and after Dean reversed a ruling of leg before wicket off Bates, citing the ball as missing the top of the leg stump, she and Jones could continue to build the unity their team sorely needed.
Jones reached her fifty with a clean single off Kerr, but she fell short of her fifty-run mark a few moments later, chipping Bates straight to Eden Carson at backward point. Dean left shortly after, having taken out Brooke Halliday at cover off Rowe. With a short ball that Cross edged behind along the leg side, Rowe secured her third.
