Sciver, Shrubsole see England through; New Zealand all but out

It is a World Cup of thrillers. And England took the tough route to get home to all but knock the hosts out.

Nat Sciver and her partnership with Sophia Dunkley had almost done it for England. They had added 70 for the fifth wicket and England were just 28 away. But Frances Mackay, with a wet ball thanks to constant drizzle, picked three wickets for just eight runs after the 40th over to trigger a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 20 to go from a comfortable 176 for 4 to a nervy 196 for 9.

Mackay first got one to spin in sharply past the outside edge of Dunkley's bat to bowl her. An over later, she had Sophie Ecclestone inside-edging one on to the stumps, before having Kate Cross lbw to a ball she should have been forward to. Then Katherine Brunt ran herself out going for a non-existent second run to add to the chaos. It was panic stations in the England dressing room.

In the interim, Sciver, on 61, missed a cut off Jess Kerr to be bowled. But Anya Shrubsole and Charlie Dean saw England home eventually to help them notch up their second win in the competition to keep their title defence alive.

On a day of intermittent drizzle, it was the trio of Cross, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone who combined to dismiss New Zealand for 203 after they had gotten off to a quick start in Auckland. Maddy Green's half-century helped the hosts past the 200-run mark, something that looked to be at a distance after a late collapse.

After a 15-minute toss delay where Knight inserted New Zealand in, Devine and Suzie Bates cashed in on some wayward bowling. Brunt struggled to adjust to the wind and didn't get her lines and lengths right, much like Ellyse Perry in the India-Australia match on Saturday, and the 'Smash Sisters' took full toll.

Shrubsole wasn't spared either as New Zealand raced to 44 for 0 in seven overs. That prompted England to get Cross and Sciver on early, but Devine and Bates brought up their first fifty partnership in the competition.

Cross then gave England an opening when she got Bates to miscue one high for mid-off. Soon, Devine had to retire hurt on 37 after going down with a sore back and barely managing to get up and walk off.

While Cross and Sciver kept the lid on the scoring, Dean's introduction further slowed things down as Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite struggled to rotate strike. The offspinner, who had returned career-best of 4 for 23 against India, got Amelia Kerr to top-edge a sweep, the shot that she had employed successfully throughout the series against India.

Green then took on Ecclestone after a watchful start, while Satterthwaite, too, began to accelerate with a slight drizzle making an appearance. However, Dean trapped Satterthwaite to start the slide for New Zealand. They lost five wickets for just 27 runs from there, including that of Devine, who walked back in after the sixth wicket. It was Green's innings coupled with a last-wicket cameo by Jess Kerr, where she scored 14 off just 13 balls, that saw the home side cross 200.

New Zealand began the 204-run defence well, dismissing Danni Wyatt early after she had gotten off to a quick start. It took the long, outstretched arms of Hannah Rowe running backwards from mid-off to get the breakthrough. Tammy Beaumont, on the other hand, was busy and hit three fours in the space of six balls against Rowe and Jess Kerr. She had gotten the measure of the surface that seemed to hold up a bit in the second innings, pulling Lea Tahuhu for four before the bowler undid her with pace to knock her over.

New Zealand were disciplined without being incisive enough, and Sciver was happy to bide her time. In fact, it was Sciver's slowest fifty in ODIs. It was set up by Heather Knight earlier, who scored 42 off 53 balls, unlucky to miss out on a half-century of her own.

Knight and Sciver, as they had done against India, prevented the slide and at the same time kept England on course. The England captain waited for spinners to err before reverse-sweeping Mackay through backward point and using the leg glance to collect a boundary off Amelia Kerr.

Mackay, though, extracted revenge when she trapped Knight in front of the stumps in an attempted reverse sweep, the DRS not coming to Knight's aid. Brooke Halliday, who was called in to fill Tahuhu's quota, had England in a brief discomfort that resulted in Amy Jones' wicket.

It was then than Sciver and Dunkley got together to effectively seal the chase. Sciver showed restraint in attacking Amelia Kerr and was happy to wait for the bad balls, which was one of the characteristics of her knock. She pulled Rowe through backward point to get to her half-century off 97 balls. But with England in pole position, needing 31 off the last ten overs, they committed hara-kiri.

Somehow, they managed to squeeze home in the end, by the barest of margins.