Devine special rescues New Zealand to earn series parity

Sophie Devine smashed a 57-ball 87 – with five fours and six sixes – to rescue New Zealand from a precarious position and put them on course to a series-levelling victory over England in Canterbury. Devine added a 159-run stand with Maddy Green, who finished unbeaten on 56.

After opting to bat, New Zealand's top-order collapsed to 5/3 in the second over as Laurel Bell and Linsey Smith wreaked havoc. Brooke Halliday became Smith's third wicket of the Powerplay, leaving New Zealand at 11/4.

From this point, Devine and Green orchestrated a resurrection. They dragged the team to 29/4 in six overs and consolidated through the middle. New Zealand reached 67/4 at the halfway stage as Devine hit Charlie Dean for two successive sixes in the 10th over. The boundaries continued through the middle overs, setting up a late flourish from 110/3 in 15 overs. Devine and Green reached their half-centuries in the 16th and 17th overs before the former attacked Freya Kemp in the 18th, hitting two sixes. The pair added 60 runs off the last 30 balls, which proved decisive.

England began the chase with intent, flying to 27/0 in 3 overs. Off-spinner Nensi Patel broke through in the fourth over, removing Sophia Dunkley. Strong partnerships followed between Bouchier and Alice Capsey (45 off 37), then Bouchier and Heather Knight (45 off 33). However, once the latter partnership was broken, England fell away. As the asking rate climbed, they crumbled from 119/2 in the 16th over to 148/6 at the close. New Zealand were buoyed by a collective bowling effort led by Nensi, who returned 2-25.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 170/5 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 87, Maddy Green 56*; Linsey Smith 3-25) beat England 156/6 in 20 overs (Maia Bouchier 38; Nensi Patel 2-25) by 14 runs