NZ Women vs ENG Women, 2nd ODI at Worcester, ENG v NZ (W), Jun 30 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

4.15pm: Right, that's a wrap from Worcester. No secret ingredients to England's special sauce today: their No.1 spinner, Sophie Ecclestone, ripping through New Zealand with 5 for 25 before rookie opener Maia Bouchier set the seal on the day by reaching her first senior hundred in any format with the winning runs. Valkerie Baynes' report should be your final stop today, but don't forget we move on to Bristol in midweek for the third and final ODI, before a five-match T20Is series between these sides. For now, thanks for your comments. From myself, Shashank and Ranjith, enjoy the rest of your weekend. Bye!

4pm: England layeth the smackdown again, Ecclestone and Bouchier tag-teaming to devastating effect... Time for the presentations, starting with Player of the Match Maia Bouchier: "The relief was there, I've put in a lot of work. Great to be out there and playing in front of this crowd. To get a hundred is so special. I've worked hard to get to this point, taken me time to get here, not get ahead of myself. Hundred is just a number and I've worked on that process. I was hoping she'd stay at the other end, it was great to have her in the middle, a calm person to keep me in check. It'll give me so much confidence, worked behind the scenes on my 50-over game. I was hoping to get the opportunity in this series. It's such an important part of batting realising you have more time than you think. Just proud of myself. I've struggled to understand the purpose of my game, what I give to those team. I want to be aggressive in my own individual way, and my team-mates have encouraged to play the way I play. I struggled in the Pakistan series but came in here with a bit more confidence."

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: "Pretty similar trends, we didn't bat our overs and that's a crime. With 140 you're not going to be competitive. With the ball we created pressure at times but we went away from the stumps and plyers like Maia are going to punish you. The wicket was pretty lifeless, not much in it and a few balls stayed low. We had to find out and build partnership, but again to lose wickets in clumps, it's pretty hard to win from there. Doesn't discredit the work we've done back home. Another disappointing performance but we've got another opportunity. Every chance we get to play with the silver fern it's really important to us."

England's Heather Knight: "Really pleased. We talked about playing the game we played the other day, to dominate and have that ruthless edge. To do it in the two ways we have, I don't think it could have gone better. The bowlers made it look really tough, that put pressure on the Kiwis. When we're on top, I love the way we kept going. To bowl them out again, we made it look a very tough surface. [Ecclestone] She's great to chuck the ball to. She was annoyed when I took her off the first time... she loves taking wickets. Knowing herself a bit better, keep trying to bowl her best ball. She has to play with the field to keep engaged. [Bouchier] Really special, there was a lot of nerves on the balcony. We know how desperate she was, she's had some near misses. We knew it was on her mind, so to get that monkey off her back is so good. Top work from Nat at the other end, blocking the full toss was the highlight for me. [Changes] We'll get down to Bristol and have a chat. We want to be ruthless, important we keep pushing an dominating."

It's been a joyride for England this afternoon. At no stage were they challenged, both with the bat and on the field. New Zealand's freefall as a women's outfit continues. They just didn't put up enough runs on the board. More than the runs or the lack of it, their manner of crumbling against Sophie Ecclestone was quite alarming. Very often they got into a tangle playing for turn when there wasn't much. Barring Amelia Kerr, who batted cautiously in trying to limit damage, there was little support.

Then in the chase, England found a star in Maia Bouchier, who brought up her maiden ODI century. Her's was a mix of enterprising batting as well as copy book methods. Some of the drives through the packed offside-ring were pristine. And later on, when she had to bring out her power game to try and get to the century before the runs were knocked off, she was able to quite effortlessly.

With a 50-over World Cup looming next year in India, New Zealand have lots of work to do. There are no dead rubbers anymore. That game will be massively important to restore lost confidence and pride. Can they pull one back in two day's time?

For now, let's join Alan for the post-match honours.

This is Bouchier's highest ODI score. Can she get to a hundred? A boundary will take here there.

England need five to win, Bouchier needs 5 for a century