Beaumont and bowlers combine to seal England's emphatic series win

England Women beat New Zealand Women by 123 runs at County Ground in Derby on Tuesday (July 10) to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Tammy Beaumont top-scored with 67 runs on a dry, spinning track before bowlers applied the choke in the second innings, shutting New Zealand to a paltry 118 in 38 overs to hand them their fourth-heaviest defeat in ODIs.

Opening bowlers Katie George picked up three wickets to raze through New Zealand's batting line-up in a chase that never got going. New Zealand lost three important wickets -- two of them to George -- just seven overs into the chase, and they never really recovered from it. Or let's say the spinners didn't allow them to, carving out a Kiwi stumble from 75 for 3, which saw five wickets fall for eight runs in eight overs. This effort was tailored by Sophie Ecclestone, who registered figures of 3 for 14 in the eight overs she bowled. Captain Suzie Bates was the highest scorer with an underwhelming 24 runs.

Only a last-wicket stand of 26 between KE Ebrahim and Holly Huddleston prevented England from registering their biggest win over New Zealand.

Earlier, England opted to bat first, much like the first ODI, with Beaumont contributing another important score at the top. After she fell to Jess Watkin in the 27th over, Natalie Sciver took over, hitting a near run-a-ball 54 at No.5 to manoeuvre through the middle overs on what wasn't the easiest of pitches to score and helped England post an impressive 241 in 48 overs. Sophie Devine, Leigh Kasperek and Jess Watkin picked two wickets each but the bowling group as a whole fell short of striking when it mattered, and England got away, in part by being aggressive enough to rack up a score that was always difficult to chase down in the second innings.

Brief Scores: England Women 241 in 48 overs (Tammy Beaumont 67; Sophie Devine 2/26) beat New Zealand Women 118 in 38 overs (Suzie Bates 24; Sophie Ecclestone 3/14) by 123 runs