England has beaten the White Ferns in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Having posted 94 in the first innings, the White Ferns were unable to take early wickets and saw their total overcome after 17.2 overs, as England went on to win by seven wickets.
Despite defending such a low total, the White Ferns had a number of opportunities to put the English under some real pressure.
Having helped to put on 32 for the first wicket, Laura Marsh fell to a great catch by Morna Nielsen at mid-on for 11.
That brought together the dangerous combination of Edwards and Sarah Taylor and together they carried England past the 50 mark.
Three runs later though the White Ferns were boosted by a leaping catch from Sophie Devine at backward point to dismiss Edwards. The captain departed having scored 33 off 37 balls.
England’s middle-order hadn’t been tested so far in the tournament, but in spite of some half-chances New Zealand was unable to get a run of wickets.
A turning point could have been when Taylor was stumped off the bowling of Mackay, only for the delivery to be called a no-ball. Things were not going the way of the White Ferns.
In the end Taylor (21*) finished the job with sixteen balls remaining and England progressed to the final.
Sian ruck provided the biggest impact for the White Ferns with two wickets coming off her four overs for 22 runs.
Earlier the White Ferns had been hampered by the loss of regular wickets throughout their innings.
Captain Suzie Bates was the first to go, when she was run out for nought in the first over. Devine replaced her and looked to build a meaningful partnership with opener Amy Satterthwaite.
Having played sensibly on her way to 11, Devine attempted to increase the run-rate with a swing over mid-wicket. The outcome was not as she had hoped for, as she picked out Katherine Brunt in the deep to leave New Zealand 17 for two.
Boundaries were hard to come by, with the English bowling attack making very few errors. Frances Mackay and Sara McGlashan both fell cheaply and the White Ferns were in trouble at 42 for four.
Satterthwaite meanwhile had responsibly anchored the innings with 30 from 39 deliveries. With pressure building she attempted to clear the rope, but instead found Jenny Gun just inside the long-on boundary.
Browne (18) and Katey Martin (19) provided valuable cameos considering the position they were in and helped the White Ferns finish their twenty overs at 93 for eight.
The wickets were shared amongst the English bowlers, but Holly Colvin’s figures of two for 15 from four overs were the most impressive.
