England 142 for 4 (Capsey 67*, Dunkley 35) beat New Zealand 141 for 8 (Devine 58*, Bates 38, Ecclestone 4-25) by six wickets
Sophie Ecclestone’s four-wicket haul smothered Sophie Devine’s defiance before an unbeaten half-century from Alice Capsey guided an experimental England to victory and an unassailable 3-0 lead in the T20I series in Canterbury.
With two matches still to play, the hosts could well continue their contingency planning, which had Sophia Dunkley take her chance with a 26-ball 35 returning to the top of the order and sharing a 66-run partnership with Capsey to put England in control. Two quick wickets to Fran Jonas preserved the hope that Devine had given New Zealand but Capsey’s highest score in T20Is, coming off 60 balls, and an cool cameo by Freya Kemp of 16 not out from eight balls saw England home as the White Ferns were left to rue a rash of missed chances in the field.
