England Women level series with big win

England 169 for 1 (Taylor 89*, Edwards 64*) beat New Zealand 168 (Satterwaite 27, Cross 5-24, Grundy 3-36) by 9 wickets
Scorecard

A five-wicket haul from Kate Cross and a brisk 89 from Sarah Taylor led England Women to a series-leveling nine-wicket win against New Zealand Women in Lincoln.

After being put in, New Zealand were jolted early, with Cross dismissing openers Suzie Bates (7) and Rachel Priest (6). Amy Satterthwaite (27) and Kate Broadmore (24) then added 54 to briefly steady the innings, before both were undone by left-arm spinner Rebecca Grundy in the 22nd and 24th overs. Sophie Devine (22) also got off to a good start, but failed to make a substantial score.

Katie Perkins (3), Anna Peterson (1) and Erin Bermingam (4) departed in consecutive overs as the hosts slid to 92 for 7. Just as an early finish loomed large, Lea Tuhuhu and Morna Nielson put on 42 for the ninth wicket to push New Zealand past 150, before Nielsen perished to Heather Knight off the last ball of the innings.

Cross was the wrecker-in-chief, returning career-best ODI figures of 5 for 24 and was aided by Grundy's 3 for 36.

In reply to New Zealand's 168, England lost Knight for 5 in the third over but Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor combined well to take their team to 50 for 1 in 10.4 overs. They kicked on to register fifties as England aced the chase inside 33 overs. Taylor was the dominant partner in the 158-run partnership, striking 11 fours on her way to 89 off 104 balls.

The final ODI will be played at the same venue on Saturday.