England squeeze past New Zealand in first women's ODI thanks to Charlie Dean

"Only a calm rearguard effort from the stand-in captain, Charlie Dean, who finished unbeaten on 31 and valiantly marshalled England's long tail, enabled them to crawl across the line. England played exactly the way you might expect from a team who have gone 194 days without playing an international match (their last outing was the World Cup semi-final in October). First, they made a spate of fielding errors, costing them precious runs in a low-scoring thriller. Then they subsided to 149 for six, after Emma Lamb, Amy Jones and Dani Gibson all holed out to gleeful fielders."

"Freya Kemp managed 30 and was unlucky to be run out backing up, while Maia Bouchier struck a half century despite being in the squad only as batting cover for Nat Sciver-Brunt. Bouchier miscued a catch to midwicket in the 35th over and it looked like England's decision to field a lineup with three effective no 11s Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer and debutant Tilly Corteen-Coleman might come back to haunt them. But despite Bell and Filer both being yorked by the New Zealand quicks with 10 runs still needed, the 18-year-old Corteen-Coleman ran hard and struck three golden singles."

"Dean, who survived a drop by Nensi Patel at backward point which would have handed New Zealand the win, was left to smoke the winning run through the covers with 10 balls to spare. Dean is attempting to prove her case as Sciver-Brunt's long-term replacement, while the latter sits out this series with a calf injury. Sunday's performance will have done her claim a lot of good, after she had earlier also picked up two wickets, coming round the wicket to good effect and correctly using DRS to see off Brooke Halliday with a ball which straighte"

England chased 211 in the first women’s ODI against New Zealand at Chester-le-Street and won by one wicket. The start was underwhelming, with fielding errors costing runs in a low-scoring match. England slipped to 149 for six after Emma Lamb, Amy Jones, and Dani Gibson were dismissed. Freya Kemp made 30 and was run out while backing up. Maia Bouchier scored a half century despite being in the squad as batting cover, and England’s lineup included three effective no 11s. Charlie Dean remained unbeaten on 31, survived a dropped chance, marshalled the tail, and hit the winning run with 10 balls remaining. Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer were dismissed with 10 runs still needed, while debutant Tilly Corteen-Coleman struck three singles to keep the chase alive.

Read at www.theguardian.com