England women claim a five wicket victory and 4-0 series win over New Zealand

England women claimed a crushing 4-0 T20 series victory over New Zealand women, winning the final match by five wickets at Queens Park, Invercargill today.

After restricting the hosts to 109 for six from their 20 overs, England set about knocking off the runs with ease to finish on 110 for five with seven balls remaining.

England chose to bowl first and leading wicket taker Anya Shrubsole continued her impressive run, taking two early scalps. Shrubsole, who has taken 10 wickets for 48 runs over the series, first trapped Frances Mackay leg before with the third ball of the game and then had Suzie Bates caught by Jenny Gunn.

Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan attempted to build the runs for the White Ferns but the 50-run partnership was broken by Georgia Elwiss, who bowled Satterthwaite on the last ball of the 14^th over. Laura Marsh then bowled McGlashan six balls later restricting the hosts to 79 for four.

England continued to dominate as Arran Brindle had Katy Perkins caught short of the long on boundary by Gunn.

As the hosts attempted to bolster the score Elwiss took her third international wicket, bowling Liz Perry on the final ball of the innings and restricting New Zealand to 109.

After the early loss of Charlotte Edwards, Marsh and Sarah Taylor raced away chipping 40 runs off the target from just 28 balls. After her quick fire 24 from 17, Taylor was caught in the eighth over.

Morna Neilsen attempted to get a hold on the game as she ripped though Marsh, Lydia Greenway and Tamsin Beaumont allowing England just 10 runs from her four over spell.

But Brindle and Gunn remained composed in the middle as they rebuilt the run chase for the tourists and comfortably knocked off the 49 runs required in just 42 balls as they finished on 23 and 22 not out respectively.

Player of the match Anya Shrubsole said: “The team played well and I was personally really pleased with my performance. It was a good wicket and I felt I put the ball in the right areas, so it was just a case of waiting for things to happen. I’m looking forward to bowling for longer spells in one-day series and hope to continue my form.”

Charlotte Edwards said: “It was a great wicket to play on today; I’m really pleased to win the game and the series.

“We started well with the bat and despite losing our way slightly in the middle we felt in control and had a lot of experience out there with Brindle and Gunn.

“I don’t think we’ve played our best cricket today though, but it’s great that we are winning games of cricket and we’ll be working on areas to improve. We’ll start from scratch for the one-day series; it’s a different format so we have to hit the ground running on Wednesday.”

England now move up to Christchurch where they will play New Zealand in a three match one-day series in Lincoln.

Highlights of all matches can be viewed on the New Zealand Cricket website

The fourth T20 between England women and New Zealand abandoned due to rain

England women match schedule

Thursday 1 March,1^st ODI Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University1030 (2130 Wed 29^th Feb GMT)

Saturday 3 March,2^nd ODI Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University 1030 (2130 Fri 2^nd March GMT)

Monday 5 March, 3^rdODI Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University 1030 (2130 Sun 4^th March GMT)