Southern Vipers players are in action across the world, with England Women taking on New Zealand, and an U19s tri-series in Sri Lanka where Mary Taylor, Ava Lee, and Abi Norgrove are all taking part.
In the fourth IT20, Maia Bouchier continued from where she left off in Nelson, by striking back-to-back half-centuries on her way to a career-best T20 score of 91.
Her innings came off just 56 balls, with 14 boundaries, as England posted a commanding 177-3 in 20 overs.
Charlie Dean starred with the ball taking 4-26, removing Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green before cleaning up Izzy Gaze and Hannah Rowe, whilst Lauren Bell claimed the wicket of Suzie Bates in the first over of the White Ferns’ innings.
England went on to win by a whopping 47 runs.
The final IT20 was quieter for the Vipers, with Dean picking up 1-32 with Lauren Bell resting, as New Zealand scored 136-6.
Danni Wyatt made 21 as England cruised home to a five-wicket win, with Maia Bouchier being named Player of the Series with 223 runs to her name, and her 91 being the highest IT20 score by a visiting batter in New Zealand.
Bell was back in the action in the opening ODI, with her 3-41 being the pick of the figures, whilst Charlie Dean also picked up a three-for on her way to becoming the fastest women ever to reach 50 ODI wickets.
Maia Bouchier continued to showcase her skills as an opening batter, with a run-a-ball 31, before the home side forced their way back into the game, as England slipped from 54-2 to 79-6.
Having starred with the ball, Dean proved her all-round capabilities with an unbeaten 42 as part of a new world record stand of 130 with Amy Jones (92*) for the seventh wicket, as England secured victory with 8.4 overs to spare.
England’s second ODI takes place on Thursday 4th April in New Zealand, with the match starting at 11pm on Wednesday 3rd April in the UK.
England A’s tour of New Zealand concluded on Friday, with a 2-1 One Day series defeat after their 3-0 T20 whitewash.
In the second match, Freya Kemp was once again in the runs, with 80 off just 63 balls, whilst Georgia Adams made 20 as England posted 334-5.
With ball in hand, Linsey Smith claimed 1-54 as New Zealand A were bowled out for 251, with Rhianna Southby claiming a stumping in the process.
The third and final One Day match was less successful for the Three Lions, although Smith picked up another wicket, and Southby another stumping.
The home side racked up 287-7 before England were skittled for 154 with Southby top scoring with 45.
Across the six matches, Freya Kemp scored a mammoth 257 runs at an average of 51.4 and strike rate of 145.
You can find a full schedule of England Women and England A Women’s series below.
- March 10th – New Zealand v England A Women (New Zealand won by 15 runs)
- March 12th– New Zealand v England A Women (New Zealand won by six wickets)
- March 14th– New Zealand A v England Women (England Women won by 57 runs)
- March 16th– New Zealand A v England A Women (England A Women won by 30 runs)
- March 17th– New Zealand A v England A Women (England A Women won by eight wickets)
- March 19th– New Zealand v England Women – 1st IT20 (England Women won by 27 runs)
- March 20th– New Zealand A v England A Women (England A Women won by 13 runs)
- March 22nd– New Zealand v England Women – 2nd IT20 (England Women won by 15 runs)
- March 23rd– New Zealand A v England A Women (New Zealand A women won by 106 runs)
- March 24th– New Zealand v England Women – 3rd IT20 (New Zealand Women won by 3 runs)
- March 27th– New Zealand v England Women – 4th IT20 (England Women won by 47 runs)
- March 28th– New Zealand A v England A Women (England A Women won by 83 runs)
- March 29th– New Zealand v England Women – 5th IT20 (England Women won by 5 wickets)
- March 30th– New Zealand A v England A Women (New Zealand A Women won by 133 runs)
- April 1st– New Zealand v England Women – 1st ODI (England Women won by 4 wickets)
- April 4th– New Zealand v England Women – 2nd ODI (11am local time, 11pm -1 day UK time)
- April 7th– New Zealand v England Women – 3rd ODI (11am local time, 12am UK time)
Out in Sri Lanka, three Vipers have been starring on the international stage for the first time, with Mary Taylor, Ava Lee, and Abi Norgrove all involved in the tri-series involving the hosts, England, and Australia.
In their opening match against Australia, England posted 146 before restricting the Aussies to 111-5 in reply, with Taylor bowling an economical four over spell, conceding just 21 runs.
In the second match, all three Vipers featured against the hosts, Sri Lanka, with Ava Lee picking up standout fixtures of 4-19 from her four overs, as the home side posted 128-7.
In reply, Abi Norgrove top scored with 31, but some tight bowling from the Sri Lankans saw England end up just six runs shy of their opposition.
Returning to battle Australia, Lee was once again in the wickets with 2-23 – her scalps coming in consecutive deliveries.
Norgrove was once again in the runs, striking 30* off just 19 deliveries, with four boundaries to her name, as she helped see England over the line with 7 wickets at 21 balls to spare as they chased down their target of 125.
Ava Lee then took another two wickets in as many balls against Sri Lanka in their final T20, as she finished with 2-19 from three overs, to help keep the hosts to 126-9, with Mary Taylor picking up 1-11 off three overs.
With the bat, England chased down their total with more than five overs to spare, giving them three wins across the four T20 matches.
England now have two 50-over matches, first against Australia followed by the hosts, on 7th April and 9th April respectively, with both games starting at 5:30am in the UK.
