England equalled the best successful run chase in Women’s T20 World Cup history to put down a marker for next week’s knockout stages and eliminate defending champions Latest Zealand.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge underpinned the pursuit of 164 with 89 not out – her third fifty-plus rating of the tournament – while Sophia Dunkley chipped in with an unbeaten 49 as England got home with nine wickets and 16 balls to spare.
Already guaranteed top spot in Group B, the pair’s unbroken 128-run stand in front of a bumper 21,018 crowd on the Kia Oval helped England equal the previous best tournament run chase, once they beat Australia within the 2009 semi-finals en path to their first and only T20 title.
A fifth win from five tournament matches for England – and a seventh in a row in all in T20s – handed an early exit to the 2024 winners, with the West Indies claiming second spot within the group.
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Abrupt end
It brings an abrupt end to the international careers of veteran trio Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu, who take a combined 448 T20 caps with them.
Nevertheless, England can now stay up for the semi-finals, where they’ll return to the Oval on either Tuesday or Thursday.
Devine didn’t go quietly with 30 off 14 balls while fellow all-rounder Bates made a canny 19 off 13 but they lacked support in Latest Zealand’s 163 for six, where runs and wickets arrived in clusters.
Their efforts were soon put into the shade as Wyatt-Hodge was allowed to tuck into the off-side with cuts and drives while Amy Jones flickered for 17 before failing to loft over mid-off off Nensi Patel.
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Costly miss
Two balls earlier, Wyatt-Hodge had advanced to the wrist-spinner and missed a heave but wicketkeeper Isabella Gaze failed to collect cleanly and a stumping probability when the in-form opener was on 13 went begging.
It was a costly miss as Wyatt-Hodge continued to feast on anything short and wide because the boundaries piled up alongside Dunkley, once more standing in for injured England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.
Whether Dunkley has done enough to retain her place stays to be seen but she was a superb foil for Wyatt-Hodge.
The duo were unperturbed by a 20-minute rain delay on a sultry evening in south London.
Resumption
Wyatt-Hodge, averaging 94 in five tournament knocks, moved seamlessly to a 33-ball half-century on the resumption and she or he and Dunkley hardly looked back.
A century was not within the offing for Wyatt-Hodge but she hit a six off Jess Kerr to go together with 15 fours while Dunkley looked odds-on for a second 50 in three innings.
The winning moment was anticlimactic as, with the scores level, Tahuhu ended her Latest Zealand profession by sending down a large.
Latest Zealand’s openers were earlier pedestrian once they needed dynamism, putting on 70 in 60 balls before Gaze shovelled straight to Alice Capsey for 28 as she sought a 3rd 4 off Freya Kemp.
Brutal cameo
Melie Kerr missed a scoop and was castled for 42 by the subsequent ball from Dani Gibson, who made it three wickets in 4 deliveries when Izzy Sharp chopped on.
Devine redressed the balance by thumping back-to-back sixes off Charlie Dean and one other off Sophie Ecclestone for good measure.
Latest Zealand, though, lost two in an yet again when Dean’s direct hit to expire Brooke Halliday was followed by Lauren Bell getting an lbw verdict over Devine to finish her brutal cameo.
Bates collected three successive fours off Kemp before being run out off the last ball chasing a bye.
READ MORE: England through to Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals as Danni Wyatt-Hodge impresses
