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West Indies’ new T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite said a vote of confidence from his predecessor Darren Sammy and encouragement from the senior players made his transition into the role easier.The WICB named Brathwaite to lead the side against India in two T20 matches in Florida on August 27 and 28. Sammy, who led West Indies to two World T20 titles, had announced the news of his axing as captain through a Facebook post and was later dropped from the squad.”He just told me, ‘Congratulations’. He heard it before I spoke to him, and he just said, ‘Congratulations, it’s a big challenge’. He gave me his blessing and as a senior guy appreciated it, which allowed me to ease into the role,” Brathwaite said at a press conference after the fourth Test against India in Port of Spain. “I haven’t officially started yet, but it has allowed me to transition easier from just being told [about the captaincy] to the excitement of wanting to get on the field and lead. It was a good vote of confidence speaking to Sammy, then I saw him at a charity event, saw some of the senior guys as well, all have been telling me positive things.”

Matches in USA will be a spectacle – Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite also fielded a question from India offspinner R Ashwin at the end of his press conference. Ashwin, who was due to speak to the media after Brathwaite, asked the West Indies allrounder whether he thought India would get more support during the upcoming T20Is in the USA. Brathwaite said the series was “testing the waters”, after the USA leg of the CPL had been well-received.
“It’s funny because the US has a lot of Caribbean supporters and I think a few Caribbean people who used to like cricket but probably don’t follow it anymore would love to come out and enjoy some games in the US. Whether they will be supporting West Indies or India I don’t know, but I think it will be a very good spectacle. From all reports, CPL had a fantastic ovation and it was well-received. And I hope this is the start of big things. We are next-door neighbours and the US is a powerhouse so let’s see how it goes. We are testing the waters a bit, hopefully it goes well and hopefully this is the first of many in the USA.”

Brathwaite stressed that members in the West Indies side were “mature enough” to handle a change in leadership. He added the players enjoyed each other’s company and, from that point of view, leading the side would be easy.”I think a team like this will be pretty easy to lead, from the point of view that the dressing room is a fun place to be. I don’t think it’s a case where I have to negotiate too many egos,” he said. “The guys enjoy each other’s company. It’s just a matter for me to go there, do the things that I can do, firstly as a player and then a captain, continue to mould the team that Darren has started to mould, efficiently.”Again, the most important thing is getting victories for the West Indies. As a new leader, things might change bit by bit. It’s just about adjusting and then for me to find ways for the team to continue to win.”I don’t want to get too deep into the psychology of changing leaders and stuff like that. I think all the guys are mature enough. We have had cases where some of the guys were captains, and then played the next series under a different captain. We are professionals, we all know what we have to go out there and do.”It’s a matter of, first, to go out there and win games for the West Indies and I hope that my leadership can influence that in some part. Even if it doesn’t, if we win the games that will be the most important thing.”Brathwaite, 28, has only recently found himself settling into West Indies’ limited-overs sides. One of his best moments came during the World T20 final against England earlier this year. With his team needing 19 runs off the last over, he struck four successive sixes off Ben Stokes to take the side to their second T20 title.Prior to that tournament, however, Brathwaite had played only two T20Is – against South Africa in January 2015 and against Bangladesh in 2011. His place in the Test team, meanwhile, is not settled. He made his debut against Australia during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG last year, but has played only two matches since then. In the series against India, he was picked for the first Test where he scored a duck and an unbeaten 51, but was dropped for the remaining matches.Brathwaite said feedback from the selectors about his exclusion gave him a chance to become a better all-round player.”I want to be the best I can be. I want to myself available in all three formats for the West Indies and I obviously don’t want to make goals I haven’t been able to fulfill as yet,” he said. “Again a bit old, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to see us back at the top in Test cricket as yet. But just improvement and progression, I think we start to improve and I want to be a bigger part of that improvement and progression as well.”Being dropped, I got a clear message from the selectors why I was dropped as well. I was disappointed but it’s a chance for me now to go forward and get a bit stronger and get a bit better as well and when you get that chance again, whenever it may be, it is up to me to take that chance and become a better player all-round.”Brathwaite said that before accepting the captaincy, he had sought clarification from the selectors on their expectations of him.”Yes there was hesitation. I wanted to contact my family and my close advisors before I took the job. It is an honour, I would never say I didn’t want to take it. But obviously I had some questions that I asked of the selection panel before I took the job. Just basically to clarify why they wanted me, what they expected of me, and coming into the role knowing my job.”

ScorecardLuke Procter raises his bat to a century – and so much more•Getty Images

To appreciate the full perfection of this day’s cricket, it may be useful, just for a moment please, to recall this ground in December: the grass is tussocky and barely green at all; the outfield is marked out for junior football games; there are dishcloth skies and lowering dusks; and crows are perched in the bare balsam poplars like black commas, punctuating the winter.Now a Monday in July and summer is suddenly emerging from grey bedragglement. The sycamores at the Grosvenor Road End stand as if saluting its tardy arrival In the middle Haseeb Hameed and Luke Procter are building the 114-run partnership that will take Lancashire into the lead. From the direction of Harrod Drive, Ben Stokes is running in, determined to win the game for Durham and prove his fitness for the Manchester Test. But for all that Stokes and Borthwick may be in the selectors’ minds, this is not an international occasion. It is Lancashire and Durham badges which proliferate along with those of fine local clubs: Ormskirk, Fleetwood Hesketh, Sefton Park.Then Hameed, having taken 14 runs off a frolicsome four balls from Graham Onions and passed fifty for the sixth time in 15 innings this season, arches back but can only fend a fearsomely nasty short ball from Stokes to the substitute fielder, Jeremy Benton – almost a utility cricketer? – at third slip. Hameed, his sadness momentarily infinite, troops off without waiting for Rob Bailey’s finger. He receives a warm round of applause and the crowd settles again. Blue pastels and panamas are almost a uniform in the marquees. Petersen opens his account with a swept four off Borthwick, who is getting ever more joy from Grosvenor Road. There is a rattle of crockery as lunchtime approaches.Dreams may, indeed, take their time to arrive and be gone in a casual glance but that is no reason not to enjoy the reverie, be it a day at the cricket or the scent of a once-familiar perfume. Decembers come soon enough.But this day held its flawlessness through the afternoon session and on into the evening. A sip of Manzanilla before lunch Petersen was leg before to Borthwick when attempting to force the ball to leg and that dismissal heralded a Durham fightback on the resumption. Bowling from the Harrod Drive End, 19-year-old Adam Hickey, he of Benwell Hill CC, took his first Championship wickets when Steven Croft underclubbed a drive to Borthwick at mid-on and Karl Brown prodded him to Keaton Jennings at short-leg. Poor Brown is struggling badly at the moment and it is sad to see. .Those reverses left Lancashire with a lead of just 121 and only five wickets in hand but Tom Moores proved his mettle first by driving his ninth ball, bowled by Borthwick, for six and then by accompanying Procter to his second century of the season. Frankly Lancashire’s No3 needed all the nursemaiding that was on offer. Already he had nearly run himself out twice, once when simply dawdling and once, on 73, when his misunderstanding with Croft was unpunished thanks to Hickey’s fumble.Procter, though, is a true fighter and he has developed a method which suits him. True he crouches in his stance not so much like a fierce tiger about to pounce as an aged butler about to keel over. But like others with bizarre comportment at the wicket – Michael Yardy, Shivnarine Chanderpaul – his technique works for him and when he plays his cover-drives and pulls, the execution is as classical as Palairet could have wished. A scrambled single was called by the alert Moores and Procter sprinted to the bowler’s end before giving a little leap of joy and holding his bat aloft to all and to sundry. He had batted for four minutes less than five hours and he may have played an innings which sets up a victory.The crowd stood to Procter when he reached three figures and they stood again nine overs after tea when he returned to the pavilion having made 122 off 282 balls. They applauded as well when the details of his innings were announced over the public address system for this was a day when people seem determined to relish every good thing. One saw their point.Two overs after Procter was out Moores failed to make his ground when called for a single by Kyle Jarvis. It says something about the 19-year-old’s sangfroid during his second first-class innings that a run out seemed his most likely mode of dismissal. He had made 35 and had looked the part of a Division One cricketer. On the final day of this game, he will keep to Simon Kerrigan and Matt Parkinson on a turning pitch. Every day offers young Moores a new test, a new adventure and he looks as if he is enjoying every dashed minute of it.When Moores was out Lancashire’s lead was 196, competitive perhaps but nothing like the 250 for which Ashley Giles was looking. That was all but achieved thanks to a 27-run stand for the ninth wicket between Kerrigan and Nathan Buck and then thanks to Buck levying 16 runs off four balls from Borthwick, one of the sixes sailing over the Indoor School. Unlike the enjoyment derived by the crowd from this day, that ball is gone for over.Stokes ended the innings when Parkinson was caught at short leg but, as a bowler anyway, the all-rounder does not look quite at his fighting weight. Whether his batting is ready for the challenge of Mohammed Amir and Yasir Shah…well that, as Alan MacGilvray used to say, “is for tomorrow.”This evening spectators can smile ruefully at their sunburn and reflect on their day’s cricket. Tennis players are on their courts now but the light is still crystal-bright at a blessed Trafalgar Road. On the patio there is excited chatter and more clinking glasses as people discuss the several glories of the day. Someone is belting out “Flower of Scotland”, although God knows why. On second thoughts, there should be songs.

Pakistan have opted for split-captaincy of their women’s side, with offspinner Sana Mir retaining the role for ODIs and middle-order batsman Bismah Maroof taking over the T20 side for the tour of England in June. The decision was taken after Mir stepped down as captain of the T20 side after the Women’s World T20 earlier this year.

Changes in Pakistan squad

Ins in ODIs: Bismah Maroof, Nahida Khan, Muneeba Ali, Sadia Yousuf, Sidra Nawaz, Aiman Anwer
Outs: Batool Fatima, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar (standby), Diana Baig, Marina Iqbal, Rabiya Shah (standby), Sumaiya Siddiqi
Ins in T20Is: Sania Khan, Aiman Anwar
Outs: Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig

There were six changes from the 50-over squad that last played in October 2015, in West Indies, including a call-up for the uncapped 24-year old Aiman Anwer. All of the inclusions – Maroof, Nahida Khan, Muneeba Ali, Sadia Yousuf, wicketkeeper Sidra Nawaz and Nain Abidi – represented Pakistan in the World T20. Pakistan were in with a chance of making the semi-final, but a defeat to England in their final league match knocked them out.Javeria Khan, who had fractured her right thumb after being hit by a bouncer in the World T20, had recovered and was named vice-captain of the T20 team. Maroof was named vice-captain of the ODI team.Ayesha Zafar, who was at the World T20, was put on standby along with Rabiya Shah and Maham Tariq. Of the 15 women who played that tournament in India, only Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig were not in the squad for the England tour.The series comprises three ODIs, all of which contribute to the Women’s Championship where Pakistan are ranked second from bottom, and two T20s. It begins in Leicester on June 20 and ends in Southampton on July 5.Pakistan ODI and T20 squad: Javeria Khan, Nahida Khan, Sidra Ameen, Bismah Maroof (T20 capt), Muneeba Ali, Sana Mir (ODI capt), Nida Dar, Iram Javed, Asmavia Iqbal, Anam Amin, Sania Iqbal, Sadia Yousuf, Aiman Anwer, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Nain Abidi

The USA Cricket Association is gearing up for a battle with the ICC over its current suspension, telling the international governing body in a letter sent on Thursday that it has “decided to take action” in response to ICC head of global development Tim Anderson’s ultimatum. Anderson had stated that USACA has until December 15 to ratify a new constitution.A three-page letter was sent by USACA vice-president Owen Grey to Anderson dated June 9 in which Grey said he had been encouraged by the USACA members to fight back against the ICC’s suspension. Grey wrote that USACA had appointed its former executive secretary Kenwyn Williams to help the board in a legal capacity against the ICC, and that Williams would be their representative attending the ICC annual conference in Scotland later this month.”The members of USACA have mandated me to act to protect the organization from your unfair and obvious tactic to remove and replace the non-profit from its position as the responsible sports organization in the USA,” Grey wrote. “We have decided to retain Kenwyn S. Williams to advise us on a pathway to revitalization.”Mr. Williams will be tasked with rebuilding our credibility, restoring our public image and economic sustainability in anticipation of the ICC’s sustained suspension with constant threats to remove us in December 2016. Mr. Williams has experience in the areas of sport litigation and will be responsible for advocating and protecting all the rights of USACA.”Williams has worked in the past as a paralegal for Cooley LLP, an American law firm, but is no longer listed as part of their staff. He was suspended and eventually dismissed as the USACA secretary in 2012 after an infamous social media tirade. Following his removal, he attempted to sue USACA for $1.5 million, though the case was eventually thrown out in court.Grey also asserted that USACA is the established governing body for cricket in the USA and that any other group attempting to represent itself on behalf of US cricket is false. USACA claims such false representation includes the Sustainable Foundation advisory group designated by the ICC to form a new constitution.The 10-person group, which met in Colorado Springs along with US Olympic Committee officials last weekend, includes current USACA board member Linden Dodson from New York, who was pictured standing next to Anderson during a group photo. However, Grey said “putting together a group of individuals that have a negative opinion of the organization and whose main goal is to replace the non-profit is tantamount to retaliation,” while Grey made further claims that such actions have harmed USACA in various ways.”Your false manifestations over the past months have caused serious damage to USACA’s financial structure, membership, umpires and other stakeholders involved in developing cricket,” Grey wrote. “You continue to represent that the ICC’s Reinstatement conditions are the central reasons for USACA’s suspension whilst you continue to defraud the organization of its ability to function and gain financial independence.”USACA has been a partner of the ICC since 1965, more than 50 years. In that time frame, the ICC has subjected not only USACA but all of its members to a meager share of profits. The ICC has deprived USACA’s past and future revenue by its detrimental actions. The wider cricket community which you cite do not support your scheme and the USACA membership has decided to take action.”Grey also described the decision to hire new ICC Americas staff and the process of moving the regional office from Toronto to Colorado Springs as “another farce” while denouncing the ICC for not having any American citizens on its staff but instead “more ex-pats from Australia or New Zealand – a trend that you seem to continue since forcing USACA to accept Darren Beazley as CEO of USACA.”ESPNcricinfo contacted the ICC staff regarding Grey’s letter to Anderson but a representative declined to comment.

Ben Stokes is a doubt for the second Test against Sri Lanka, on his home ground at Chester-le-Street, after suffering a knee injury at Headingley. Alastair Cook, England’s captain, said Stokes “doesn’t look good” and that back-up would be added to the squad.Stokes took to the field at the start of day three but, after a few overs, reported discomfort and returned to the dressing-room for treatment. He did not bowl as England wrapped up an innings-and-88-run victory but remained at the ground.He had briefly left the field for treatment on day two after jarring his left knee while bowling. He later returned and bowled a few more overs which, in retrospect, may have been a mistake. The second of back-to-back Tests starts on Friday, with England’s three-day win providing valuable extra time off. There were indications that the management would give Stokes every chance to recover, although Cook wasn’t hopeful.”He doesn’t look good for Durham,” Cook said of Stokes. “He’ll have a scan tomorrow. We will certainly add to the squad. Even if he’s named there will be a risk.”We don’t know. He has something in his knee and is not 100 per cent right. It took a major shoulder thing for him to leave the pitch in Abu Dhabi so for him to not feel right is not great. But you never know.”The England selectors will meet in the next day or so, with Chris Woakes one of those who might be considered a potential replacement. While he is not Stokes – England have been looking for such a player since the retirement of Ian Botham – he is averaging 61 with the bat and 26.64 with the ball in this year’s County Championship.Another option would be for Bairstow, who made a century in England’s first innings at Headingley, and Moeen Ali to move up a position in the batting order and select Jake Ball as a fourth seamer. Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, said that both those options – an allrounder being called up or an extra seamer – would be considered.

The 2026 men’s T20 World Cup is likely to be played between February 7 and March 8. The tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and will comprise 20 teams.The matches will be played in at least five venues in India and two in Sri Lanka. The final will be in Ahmedabad or Colombo, depending on whether Pakistan is playing. India and Pakistan are not playing in each other’s countries due to strained political relations between the two governments at present.While the ICC is still finalising the schedule, ESPNcricinfo has learned that it has identified the window and informed the participating countries.Related

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At present, 15 teams have been confirmed for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup: India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, USA, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Italy, who have qualified for a World Cup for the first time. Of the remaining five teams, two will come from the Africa regional qualifier and three from the Asia and East Asia Pacific qualifier.The format will be the same as the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, where the 20 teams were divided into four groups of five each, with the top two from each group qualifying for the Super Eight round, where once again the eight teams were divided into two groups of four. The top two from each Super Eight group progressed to the semi-finals. India are the reigning champions, having beaten South Africa in the final in Barbados. The entire tournament comprised 55 matches.India are hosting several marquee events in the first four months of 2026 starting with the WPL, dates for which are yet to be finalised. The BCCI has earmarked a window between early January and early February for the five-team tournament. The WPL will be followed by the men’s T20 World Cup, after which the BCCI will host the IPL, with the tentative window being March 15 to May 31. India also host New Zealand for ODIs and T20Is from January 11 to 31.

Former Australia fast bowler Gordon Rorke, who played four Tests, has passed away aged 87.A tall pace bowler, considered one of the fastest in Australia at the time, Rorke’s Test appearances all came in 1959 – two against England in the Ashes followed by two away against India late in the year where he was struck by illness when he contracted hepatitis.He claimed five wickets in the match on debut in Adelaide as Australia won by ten wickets and regained the Ashes.However, his career was dogged by controversy over his delivery where he dragged his back foot so that he could deliver the ball with his front foot several feet over the bowling crease. Rorke’s ability to do this led to a review of the no-ball laws.”I was frightened that he might tread on my toes,” Colin Cowdrey, who made 84 in Adelaide, said.The lingering effects of illness from his India tour meant that his career ended aged 25. Overall in first-class cricket for New South Wales, he claimed 88 wickets at 24.60.”Cricket NSW extends its deepest condolences to Gordon’s family and friends at this difficult time while celebrating his contribution to our game,” the state said.

Alyssa Healy has ruled out making this year’s ODI World Cup a farewell party, revealing recent injuries could persuade her to push back any retirement plans she might have had.Healy’s path back to cricket will be confirmed on Tuesday, with the wicketkeeper to be named as part of an Australia A squad to face India A in Queensland in August. The matches will be the Australia captain’s first since the Ashes success at the start of the year, when she missed games with a stress fracture in her foot and did not keep wicket in others.She has endured a difficult year fitness-wise, also missing the finals of last year’s T20 World Cup with the foot injury and having a knee issue end her WBBL season early.Related

• India to host Australia for three ODIs ahead of women's World Cup

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The 35-year-old then sat out ODIs in New Zealand and the WPL in India as a result of her injuries, but said she has been fit and able to play since March.Healy has often joked she had decided to retire from cricket five or six times before opting against it, and revealed that earlier this year she had an ideal exit scenario. But that will not be after the October-November World Cup, with a hunger for cricket while injured meaning her yet-to-be-revealed plans could be pushed back.”It’s probably shifted a little bit,” Healy told AAP. “It’s made me realise that I still want to do a little bit more than maybe what I thought. At the same time, sometimes there’s stuff in life that are a little bit more important than pulling on the green and gold. So it’s just a constant reassess.”But at the moment I definitely want to play a home summer. I want to bring the World Cup home, but also to play against India [in February-March].”Tuesday marks 100 days until Australia’s opening World Cup game against New Zealand, with the India tournament presenting a real challenge for the defending champions.Australia are gunning to be the first side to win back-to-back in the tournament in almost 40 years, with the team having faced a large transition since 2022.Forming a pathway to the ODI World Cup was part of Healy’s pitch when she took over the captaincy when Meg Lanning retired in 2023.”That was one of my goals, putting a timeline on it and saying ‘this is where I could take this group’, even not knowing what I was going to do personally,” Healy said. “It definitely was a big focus of mine, to get the group to a place to compete at this World Cup, and win the trophy.”It’s not so much about the captaincy [driving me], or ticking one more box. It’s just that I want to win a World Cup for Australia, and no one has gone back-to-back, which is a real motivator.”Healy has not kept wicket in a match since January, but was confident the Australia A series and subsequent ODIs in India would have her fit for up to nine World Cup matches in 32 days.”According to science, the ODI World Cups is one of the heaviest loads that we go through as cricketers,” Healy said. “My aim is to play every game of that World Cup. So to make sure I can do that’s important.”

Former Sri Lanka international Dulip Samaraweera has received a 20-year ban from Cricket Australia for conduct that has been described as “utterly reprehensible” and he will not be allowed to hold any position within CA, the state associations, BBL or WBBL clubs during that time.Samaraweera, 52, was found to have committed a serious breach of CA’s Code of Conduct during his time as a Cricket Victoria employee with a CA Code of Conduct commission banning him for 20 years following an investigation from CA’s Integrity Department after complaints about his conduct had been made.Samaraweera, who played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1995, was a long-time Victoria women’s and Melbourne Stars WBBL assistant coach before being elevated to the Victoria women’s senior coaching role earlier this year, only for him to resign just two weeks into the role after being denied an appointment he wanted to make to his staff due to the state’s policies.The serious code of conduct breach was separate from that issue. CA’s Commission found Samaraweera had engaged in inappropriate behaviour that breached section 2.23 of CA’s Code of Conduct. The behaviour is alleged to have been involving a player.Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins released a statement condemning Samaraweera’s behaviour.”We strongly support the decision taken by the Code of Conduct Commission today, banning Dulip Samaraweera for 20 years,” Cummins said. “It is our view that the conduct was utterly reprehensible and a betrayal of everything we stand for at Cricket Victoria.”The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up. She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field.”From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount. We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up.”CA also stated that they are “committed to providing a safe environment for all players and employees and the welfare of those subjected to mistreatment is paramount.”

Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier lifted England to an impressive total which proved more than enough when Charlie Dean ripped into a struggling New Zealand line-up to seal victory in a rain-affected second T20I in Hove.Persistent rain delayed the start by two hours and cut the match to nine overs per side. Capsey’s 28 off 15 balls and Bouchier’s 23 off 15 set England up for a total of 89 for 6, then Dean took 2 for 3 in a single over as New Zealand crumbled to 42 for 5 in 6.4 overs before the rain returned to end the match even more prematurely than expected, the hosts taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series which moves to Canterbury on Thursday.New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first. They made two changes to the side which lost the opening match at Southampton on Saturday by 59 runs, bringing in seamer Hannah Rowe and offspinner Leigh Kasperek for Fran Jonas and Eden Carson. England, meanwhile, brought back Lauren Bell – rested after her five-wicket haul in the third and final ODI – and called up Dani Gibson to replace Freya Kemp and Linsey Smith.

Dry, not dull

Hove’s enviable drainage – and hardworking ground staff – ultimately delivered a playing surface that was sufficiently dry. But, at nine overs per side, the match promised not to be. Although there were no big individual scores, Capsey and Bouchier found, and cleared, the boundary with finesse while Heather Knight struck three fours in her 14-ball cameo of 15 and Sophie Ecclestone hammered a six off the only ball she faced to end the England innings in the best possible way.It took four legitimate deliveries for Bouchier to get off the mark but to do so she despatched a shorter ball from Jess Kerr over backward square leg and into the stands and she followed up with four through midwicket off Rowe’s first delivery. When Danni Wyatt fell for a third-ball duck, Capsey arrived and helped herself to back-to-back fours off Sophie Devine, a lap through fine leg and a glance through third. Bouchier overcame a knock to the grille via an edge onto her own glove attempting a reverse off Lea Tahuhu to find the boundary twice more but her attempt at a third in a row went awry when she holed out to Maddy Green at long-on.Georgia Plimmer put down a straightforward chance off Jess Kerr running in from deep square leg when Nat Sciver-Brunt was on 3 and Sciver-Brunt looked to capitalise when she swung Tahuhu into the grounds of the flats which sit beyond the fence at deep midwicket. She survived a review for caught behind next ball but fell moments later as Tahuhu pegged back middle stump. Capsey, who had smashed a six off Jess Kerr over wide mid-off, welcomed Kasperek back to T20Is for the first time in a year by launching her third ball over midwicket and into a hospitality tent, but fell next ball, caught by Jess Kerr at short third.Amelia Kerr grabbed two wickets in three balls with a return catch to remove Knight and tempting Gibson down the pitch and beating the bat as Izzy Gaze whipped off the bails. That left Ecclestone one ball to face and she muscled it into the stands over long-on.

Dean defeats damp squib

Devine promised the most in terms of fireworks and walked out to open with Suzie Bates, but she fell for just 9 spooning Lauren Bell tamely to Capsey at mid-on. Then Amelia Kerr picked out Capsey at midwicket off Sciver-Brunt and England had two prize wickets inside the three-over powerplay. Sciver-Brunt fell to the ground, rolled over and stayed there, waiting for it to swallow her up after she parried a Brooke Halliday slog over the rope for six. But Dean managed to remove Halliday in the next over, pinned lbw for 14 and New Zealand were 28 for 3 needing 62 off 29 balls.Sarah Glenn held an excellent catch diving forward from short third to remove New Zealand’s remaining big hope, Bates for just 4, giving Dean her second wicket in the space of five balls and, after Jess Kerr picked out Knight at extra cover to give Ecclestone her first, the rain returned. The players left the field with 2.2 overs remaining and the rain set in, with handshakes exchanged a short time later, the weather deciding the result in the end on the DLS method and Dean walking away with impressive figures of 1-0-3-2.