England Women thump New Zealand

England Women 127 for 3 (Connor 28*) beat New Zealand Women 126 all out (Lewis 28, Gunn 4-26, Birch 4-29) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

England's women romped to a seven-wicket victory against New Zealand to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. Jenny Gunn, who finished with figures of 4 for 26 from her 10 overs was the star performer as New Zealand were restricted to 126 all out at Chelmsford, and England then swept past their target with 14 overs to spare. They had won the first match by 45 runs.

New Zealand elected to bat, but lost both openers, Rebecca Rolls and Paula Flannery, cheaply. They were in deep trouble at 32 for 4 when Maia Lewis, the captain, and Helen Watson came together to add 46 for the fifth wicket. But then, the next three wickets fell for just a run, leaving Nicola Browne (24) and Louise Milliken (21) to cobble together an eighth-wicket record partnership of 43 to take the score past 100. Rosalie Birch, who dismissed both Lewis and Watson, also mopped up the tail to finish with 4 for 29.

England's reply was steady rather than spectacular, and Clare Connor, the captain, was unbeaten on 28 at the end. The next match will be played at Northampton on Thursday.