A tale of two Taylors as England take series lead

England 200 for 4 (Sarah Taylor 86*, Claire Taylor 70) beat New Zealand 199 by six wickets
Scorecard

Sarah Taylor and Claire Taylor both made fifties to help England to a six-wicket victory with 11 balls to spare and push them ahead for the first time this series. They are now 2-1 up with two to play after hunting down their required 200 runs thanks to Sarah Taylor's 86 not out and Claire Taylor's 70 to follow up her unbeaten century last match.

England's surge continues apace, well marshalled by Katherine Brunt's 2 for 18 from seven overs in her first series since recovering from back problems. There were two each for Jenny Gunn and Charlotte Edwards too, the visitors bowling out New Zealand with an over to spare.

Ingrid Cronin-Knight (36) and Sarah Tsukigawa (37) helped to boost them to a competitive total in this closely fought series but England paced their reply too well after losing Beth Morgan early. Charlotte Edwards was out for a rare duck and Tsukigawa also bagged Lydia Greenway for 12, but Gunn fired them home along with Sarah Taylor who made her first fifty of the tour.

Sarah Taylor said after the game: "I made sure I was in and I knew I had to stay there towards the end. All credit to New Zealand - they bowled in good areas today. We've got a day off tomorrow and then two back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday, so we'll prepare ourselves accordingly."

Acting head coach Mark Lane added: "We're improving in all areas of the game. Different players are stepping up and contributing to the team performance, which is great. These have been two terrific victories against a quality New Zealand side.

"We now have a day off to regroup and our intention is to come back on Sunday and try and improve on the last two performances to wrap up the series."