Key events
5th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Plimmer 7, Green 1) Maddy Green is the new batter, she looked in good touch up in Durham and her side need runs from her again now. She gets off the mark with an airy poke that flies past gully. Edgy stuff from the visitors in Cardiff.
WICKET! Melie Kerr lbw b Bell 1 (New Zealand 27-2)
Stone dead! Lauren Bell has Melie Kerr bang in front and Kerr chooses not to review! That’s the big wicket for England, Bell has two and New Zealand are under pressure now.
4th over: New Zealand 27-1 (Plimmer 7, A Kerr 1) Filer drifts too straight and is clipped off the pads fine for four by Plimmer.
3rd over: New Zealand 21-1 (Plimmer 2, A Kerr 0) Amelia Kerr arrives in the middle, replacing her mentor and childhood hero.
WICKET! Suzie Bates lbw b Bell 12 (New Zealand 21-1)
Drop! Bell draws Suzie Bates into the drive with a lovely outswinger, it goes to Heather Knight at first slip and she spills the chance! Oh no, Bell can’t hid her disappointment.
That’s out though! The very next ball Bell pins Bates lbw and Bates walks off! A lovely moment as the crowd rise, England and New Zealand’s players pause to applaud her all the way off the field as she brings a two decade long international career to an end.
2nd over: New Zealand 12-0 (Bates 10, Plimmer 1) New Zealand need to win to tie the series, Suzie Bates would love to finish with a win and she looks to have the bit between her teeth. She stands tall and pulls Lauren Filer through wide mid on for an imperious four!
1st over: New Zealand 6-0 (Bates 6, Plimmer 0) Bates edges a full ball and picks up four to get the White Ferns under way. Close! Bell gets her outswinger going, draws the drive and nearly takes the edge. Top bowling. Bates gets a couple with a dab down past third.
Here come the New Zealand batters, Suzie Bates walks out in her 184th and last ODI. Can she take a chunk out of this total for her side? Georgie Plimmer is at the other end. Lauren Bell will start with the ball for England. Play!
England make 181-7 (New Zealand set 184 to win on DLS)
Sophie Ecclestone arrives with free reign to have a swing. She clips through midwicket for a couple and takes one down the ground. Dean gets a single, Ecclestone bunts the final ball of the innings through cover for four!
Decent finish by England, the re-adjusted target is just three runs more though. New Zealand will be out for the chase shortly.
WICKET! Amy Jones c Sharp b J Kerr 27 (England 172-7)
Amy Jones falls in the last over, attempted slog sweep but falls foul of the long square boundaries at Cardiff. Izzy Sharp with a safe pair of hands in the deep.
32nd over: England 172-6 (Jones 27, Dean 15) Mair returns and Jones greets her with another sublime drive through the covers for four. Charlie Dean then gets a full toss from Mair and she paddles it fine for four more! Twelve off the over for England.
31st over: England 160-6 (Jones 21, Dean 9) Three singles and a couple from England as they rotate strike well off Amelia Kerr. Shot! Amy Jones drives in-to-out over extra cover. Lovely timing and placement. That’s the area Charlotte Edwards wants her players to be able to access more of. Amy Jones showing how to do it in style.
30th over: England 149-6 (Jones 12, Dean 7) Amy Jones misses a sweep off Bates but the ball beats Gaze behind the stumps and runs away for four. Four more singles make it eight off the over. Three overs to go, England need some boundaries.
29th over: England 141-6 (Jones 10, Dean 5) More like it from Amy Jones, she powers a drive through the off side off Patel. England need all the runs they can muster, that cluster of wickets really knocked them off their stride.
28th over: England 134-6 (Jones 4, Dean 4) Missed run out! Suzie Bates fluffs the throw from the deep, had she taken it cleanly then Amy Jones was well short of her ground. Bates is fuming with herself, last ODI or not.
27th over: England 127-6 (Jones 2, Dean 0) Skipper Charlie Dean arrives in the middle to join Amy Jones. Patel rattles through a wicket maiden.
WICKET! Dani Gibson b Patel 2 (England 127-6)
Gibson goes cheaply! Backs away to leg and misses the carve through the off, Patel rattling the stumps. England losing all their momentum in Cardiff.
26th over: England 127-5 (Jones 2, Gibson 1) England now have two new batters at the crease and seven overs to get as many as possible.
WICKET! Alice Capsey c Sharp b Mair 45 (England 125-6)
Two quick wickets! The partnership is broken and then demolished. Capsey tries to slap Sharp through the off side but gets it too high on the bat. That feels like a big wicket for England’s hopes of a challenging target, Capsey was well set.
25th over: England 123-4 (Capsey 44, Gibson 0) Dani Gibson joins Capsey. She defends her fist ball from Amelia Kerr watchfully.
WICKET! Freya Kemp c Mair b AC Kerr 20 (England 123-4)
Caught at long on! Kemp tries to take Kerr down the ground for a big one but doesn’t get the connection.
24th over: England 117-3 (Capsey 39, Kemp 20) Capsey in particular has been busy since the resumption. She uses her crease well to create room to carve Patel away for a couple. A glide past point brings up the 50 partnership between this pair. Seven runs in all off the over.
23rd over: England 110-3 (Capsey 33, Kemp 19) Amelia Kerr tightens things up for her side, just a couple of runs off her latest. There are ten overs left in the innings now, England have seven wickets left and probably need to look at opening their shoulders.
22nd over: England 108-3 (Capsey 32, Kemp 18) Capsey punches for four off the back foot. Four singles make it eight off the over and the hundred is up for England too – the home side have been the more dynamic of the two since the resumption.
21st over: England 99-3 (Capsey 25, Kemp 16) Another productive over for England, seven runs pocketed off Amelia Kerr’s third over. We’re going to have more spin with Nensi Patel thrown the ball for the next over.
20th over: England 92-3 (Capsey 23, Kemp 12) Rosemary Mair replace Illing. Freya Kemp gets on the front foot and drives down the ground for a couple before taking a single to mid on. Capsey take a single to point and Kemp gets two more into the deep. England are busy and hustling between the wickets.
19th over: England 86-3 (Capsey 22, Kemp 7) England’s total will be recalculated by DLS, it’ll be interesting to see how they approach the next 15 or so overs they have left in their innings. Kemp and Capsey rotate the strike nicely off Amelia Kerr’s looping leggies, five singles off the over.
18th over: England 81-3 (Capsey 20, Kemp 4) It’s Bree Illing with the ball in hand for the White Ferns, she struggles with her line initially, firing two wides down the leg side. Capsey and Kemp both take singles into the off side. Cricket has broken out in Cardiff!
Right then, take two. The players take to the field, its going to be a 33 over game. Freya Kemp and Alice Capsey are in the middle for England. Play!
Play to restart at 3.45pm
Good news, we’ll have a reduced overs game of 32 overs per side starting at 3.55pm. All eyes to the skies now to hope it remains clear in Cardiff.
Still raining in Cardiff, apparently they can still get a game on if they are out there by 5.30pm. So the wait goes on.
May as well get stuck into some FA Cup Final action with Rob Smyth while we wait for the rain to relent:
It looks to be brightening up a little in Cardiff so there is hope they could get back out there this afternoon. I’ll post any updates as we get them.
For any club cricketers out there creaking into another Saturday fixture… let Nigel Martyn* be your inspiration.
*Yep, that one.
Unfortunately we will now lose overs to the rain having had an hour delay to the start of play. Cardiff isn’t alone in languishing under leaden skies, there’s plenty of rain around the shires but Tanya also has some play to supply updates on. Not jealous at all.
Rain stops play
They’ve gone off, covers on. Now we wait.
17th over: England 77-3 (Capsey 19, Kemp 3) Amelia Kerr brings herself on for a twirl in the gloom. Her second ball is a drag down and Capsey doesn’t miss out, pulling away behind square for four. Capsey then cuts for three, Freya Kemp looks to be hobbling a bit, running in damp conditions is never nice. Time for drinks… I’m not sure we’ll be back for much longer after them mind.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/may/16/england-v-new-zealand-third-womens-cricket-one-day-international-live
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