England's Five-Wicket Victory Over New Zealand

In their final warm-up match before the Women's T20 World Cup, England secured a confident five-wicket win over New Zealand in Dubai.

After being put into the field, England successfully restricted New Zealand to 127-4 from their 20 overs. The bowling unit was well-rounded, with Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith, Sarah Glenn, and Charlie Dean each claiming a wicket.

England responded swiftly, reaching 70-3 by the eighth over. Danni Wyatt-Hodge led the charge with a rapid 35 off 19 balls, though she was eventually caught at mid-wicket. Skipper Heather Knight contributed seven runs, and when Nat Sciver-Brunt was dismissed for 31, England still required 31 runs for victory.

Dani Gibson stepped up, delivering an unbeaten 22 from 15 balls, steering England to victory with 18 balls left.

Sophie Ecclestone, the world’s top-ranked spinner, was rested for the match as part of England’s workload management strategy.

Earlier in the week, England had lost their opening warm-up game to Australia by 33 runs. However, they’ll be feeling confident heading into their first World Cup match against Bangladesh on Saturday in Sharjah.

Other warm-up matches on Tuesday saw Australia, the defending champions, defeat the West Indies by 35 runs, despite a batting collapse that saw the Windies lose nine wickets for just 17 runs. Meanwhile, India triumphed over South Africa, posting 144-7 before restricting their opponents to 116-6. 

The tournament kicks off on Thursday with Bangladesh facing Scotland in the opener. Initially set to be held in Bangladesh, the competition was relocated to the UAE in August due to civil unrest.