Jenny Gunn blogs exclusively for ecb.co.uk on the third week of England women’s tour of New Zealand.
We left the lovely Mount Maunganui to embark on a six-hour coach journey north to a place called Whangarei (don’t ask me how to pronounce it!). 360 minutes on a coach might not sound like a lot of fun, but it was genuinely a lovely, picturesque trip through winding, hilly roads. Although I’m not sure if the travel sick prone members of the squad enjoyed it quite as much!
Upon landing, it was pretty much straight into the cricket and we were ready to go with the change of format. Whangarei was a fair bit hotter than the Mount, and with the sun blazing during our first training session, Moose (Lauren Winfield) decided sensibly to go in her bag to get her sun glasses out… Reaching in her bag she pulled out a black case. Unfortunately for her however, the “black case” was in fact the tv remote from the last cricket ground! (It’s safely back in the post!)
In the first Twenty20 international, Lottie (Charlotte Edwards) lost the toss for the first time on tour, and the Kiwis chose to bat first. Trev (Heather Knight) has recently taken on a new role of opening the bowling with her off-breaks, and it is working a treat for her.
Making the most of the last day in Mt Maunganui with the troops @Heatherknight55@lauramarsh7#touristspic.twitter.com/YxdHFjGY9v
— Lydia Greenway (@lydiagreenway) February 16, 2015
She couldn't have started any better in this match, as she took 3-10 from her four overs. She definitely owes Lydia Greenway some credit though, as Lyd took one of the best catches I have ever seen her pluck (and she’s taken a fair few!).
New Zealand batter Sophie Devine absolutely smashed the ball over to deep midwicket and I think everyone in the ground thought it had gone for six. Everyone except Lyd, who jumped and with one hand plucked it out of the air.
Her weight was going backwards and she was quick enough to throw the ball up before going over the boundary and taking a return catch. Amazing stuff! From then we were on a roll with Anya Shrubsole taking out the middle order and the the White Ferns bowled out for 60.
Our run-chase was always in control, with Lottie smashing 32 not out and hitting the winning runs in the 12th over to put us 1-0 up in the T20I series with two to play.
“@KBrunt26: 1st game 1st T20 win! It was a pleasure opening the bowling with @Heatherknight55 today! pic.twitter.com/bFok46KuQW” #BowlingBruvs
— Heather Knight (@Heatherknight55) February 19, 2015
It was a case of back-to-back matches in Whangarei, so a very quick turnaround saw us batting first in the second encounter the next day.
We started off steadily, and although Moose was looking good we lost wickets at key times at the other end. A rapid 30 off just 15 balls from Trev got us up to 122 which we felt was par on that wicket.
We knew early wickets were the key to winning, but we struggled to build the pressure to make them play the bigger shots. The run-rate reached seven for a short time, but a fast 29 off 20 balls from Devine saw them over the line with four balls to spare. This levelled the T20I series 1-1 with one game to play.
The tour now takes us to the South Island and Christchurch is now our home for next week and the end of the tour.