Key events
New Zealand, of course, are without captain Sophie Devine. As noted by Kerr A at the toss, though, Suzie Bates has plenty of experience in the role, though even if they donât miss her as a skipper, as a player no her is a problem.
Any other contact-lens wearers feel half asleep when theyâre in glasses? Iâve just cleaned mine, and discovered it helps a bit; Iâve been wearing them 38 years.
Teams!
England: Beaumont, Bouchier, Knight, Sciver-Brunt, Capsey, Wyatt, Jones, Dean, Ecclestone, Cross, Bell.
New Zealand: Bates, Bezuidenhout, Kerr A, Plimmer, Green, Halliday, Gaze, Rowe, Kerr J, Tahuhu, Jonas.
Amelia Kerr says NZ got a great start last time and put England under pressure; this time itâs about breaking partnerships. Sheâs not captained much 50-over cricket before, so this is great experience for her, and she reckons itâs about finding ways to maintain pressure. The problem, she thinks is mental not technical â they need to be brave and take positive options under pressure. Her team too are unchanged.
England win the toss and will bat!
It looks a decent track, reckons Heather Knight, and itâs a high-scoring ground so she wants to set a target. Her team are unchanged.
Toss time. Hamilton looks lovely as everâ¦
Preamble
A key characteristic of a good team is that when they need saving, someone, sometimes someone you donât expect, stands up to save them â Gus Logie and Jeff Dujon made careers out of doing it, Andy Bichel did it when his side had never needed it more, and Amy Jones did it for England last time out.
But another key characteristic of a good team is elite players who excel consistently â just look at Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and chums. And that, perhaps, is the area in which this already excellent England team can look to improve: they have lots of talent, but to win the big pots they need to retain all of Column A while adding a little to Column B.
New Zealand, meanwhile â though doing well for periods â are struggling to play well enough for long enough to seriously trouble England. So given that, in the longer limited-overs format, itâs harder for a single player to dominate the game, the tourists start as warm favourites. But things can change very quickly.
Play: 11am local, 11pm BST
