CWG 2022: NZ seal Bronze Medal After Trashing England

England came into the tournament as favorites for a top-two spot. They were seen as the side best placed to beat the mighty Australians to win a gold. England though, has now crashed out and finished fourth without a single medal. The loss to India seems to have been a tough one to swallow as they were nowhere near their beat while taking on New Zealand in the 3rd place game. New Zealand was all over England as they dominated with both bat and ball.

Just twelve hours earlier, NZ lost their own semi-final to Australia. It was a close game, and a tiring one, but they still turned up with incredible intensity. The bowlers started strong and ran through the line-up early. A wicket in the second over, and some wonderful catches put England under pressure, which they failed to overcome. At the half way stage, 100 seemed tough for England as tempers flared with the likes of Ecclestone hit a chair with her bat in anger.

Jones and Devine did a wonderful job with the ball taking two wickets each while Devine followed up with a strong batting performance in the second innings. Chasing 111, Devine and Bates started fast and killed the chase in the first five overs. A flurry of boundaries early on and a steady innings after the powerplay allowed them to race through the chase. Devine finished with a fifty as New Zealand go on to seal their bronze medal in this editions Commonwealth Games.

The medal will come as a pleasant moment for New Zealand. They didn’t do so well in the World Cup, crashing out early. This time as well, they didn’t come in as favorites as South Africa came in expecting a top-four spot. However, some good cricket from New Zealand brought them to this position as they are now celebrating their medal.