New Zealand's Sophie Devine hit two sixes in three balls to reach a century and secure a consolation win for her team in their final ODI match against England in Hamilton.
Devine's 93-ball century helped her team chase down a target of 195 with 11 overs to spare, after coming to the crease with her side 14 for 2. Maddy Green provided excellent support to the captain, as they shared an unbroken partnership worth 105. Additionally, Amelia Kerr contributed 29 runs in a 76-run stand with the captain.
Devine showed no signs of the quad strain that had kept her out of action since the fourth T20I. Her impeccable footwork allowed her to take on England's attack, especially offspinner Dean and quick Lauren Filer. Her powerful innings highlighted her importance to the White Ferns, just when they seemed to be in danger of missing a golden opportunity to beat England.
For the second match in a row, the visitors were bowled out within 50 overs. Seamers Jess Kerr and Hannah Rowe took three wickets each, restricting them to 194 with 3.3 overs to spare. Once again, England relied on Player of the Series Amy Jones, whose scores of 92 not out, 48, and 50 lifted her side after middle-order collapses. On this occasion, she scored a half-century off just 50 balls and shared a 73-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Dean. The pair had previously put on a record 130-run stand in the last match. Their efforts were not enough to combat what was to come from Devine.
Kate Cross took a wicket in the third over of the run-chase when Georgia Plimmer, who was opening for Bernadine Bezuidenhout (who had injured her hamstring while fielding in the second ODI), chased a ball outside off stump and edged it to wicketkeeper Jones. Suzie Bates sent a leading edge straight to Maia Bouchier at midwicket while attempting to turn Nat Sciver-Brunt squarer to the leg side.
The hosts were 31 for 2 when the powerplay ended and Devine and Amelia Kerr began to build their partnership. Devine was on 13 when she sent a sharp, difficult chance off Filer through the hands of Heather Knight at slip. Devine hit two consecutive sixes over deep midwicket and scored four fours in five balls off Dean's next over to reach her fifty.
Sophie Ecclestone pulled up with a calf problem during her seventh over, but she returned to break the stand by trapping Amelia Kerr lbw before leaving the field to seek treatment. Ecclestone later returned to the game and saw Jones fumble a stumping chance off Green with New Zealand needing 43 runs off 88 balls.
Filer replaced fellow seamer Lauren Bell in the XI for the fourth ODI of her international career. She conceded 17 runs off her sixth over, with 12 of those runs coming from fours hit down the ground by Devine. Devine cleared the deep midwicket fence by some distance off Dean to move within one identical strike of a century, and she repeated the effort two balls later to win the match with 12 runs needed.
Earlier, Rowe took a wicket in her second over, the fourth of the match. She hit Tammy Beaumont on the back thigh with a ball that was on track to hit the top of leg stump. Jess Kerr also took a wicket, dismissing Maia Bouchier for 19 with a leg-cutter caught by Georgia Plimmer at extra cover.
After 10 overs, England were 50 for 2. However, they lost 4 wickets for just 13 runs in the next 34 balls. This collapse occurred after Sciver-Brunt and Knight had put on 58 runs together for the third wicket. Sciver-Brunt was on 15 when she drove a difficult chance straight back at Amelia Kerr, who got a hand to the ball but couldn't hold on. Although Sciver-Brunt was ultimately caught by Fran Jonas for 27, Kerr's effort was commendable.
Sophia Dunkley returned to the side after Alice Capsey sprained her ankle during training on Saturday. Dunkley had lost her place in the line-up after the five T20Is, where she only reached double figures once, scoring 32 runs in four innings. However, Dunkley was dismissed for just 1 run off the five balls she faced, playing down the wrong line to a Jess Kerr delivery that angled back in and hit the top of middle stump.
Kerr took her second wicket by hitting Danni Wyatt low on the front pad with a full toss, leaving England at 88 for 5.
Jones had another important task to rescue her team, and she would once again require Dean's assistance. After calling Knight through for a single, she saw her captain run out on 31 as Kerr fired the ball in from square leg to wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze, making it 95 for 6.
New Zealand appeared to be letting England off the hook, as they had done in the previous two matches of this series. Gaze missed a stumping opportunity when Jones, on 18, advanced out of her crease and attempted to loft a Jonas delivery over the leg side. At that point, England were 111 for 6. When Dean successfully overturned an lbw decision off Bates, it was shown that the ball was missing the top of leg stump. This gave Dean and Jones the opportunity to press on with the partnership that their side so desperately needed.
Jones reached her fifty with a crisp single off Kerr, but she fell moments later, chipping Bates straight to Eden Carson at backward point. This ended her partnership with Dean, who departed a short time later when she picked out Brooke Halliday at cover off Rowe. Rowe claimed her third wicket with a short ball that Cross edged behind down the leg side.