England beaten in rain-affected ODI as NZ draw series

New Zealand 141-4 (24. 4 overs): Halliday 42* (54); Bell 3-29 New Zealand win by 17 runs (DLS); series drawn 1-1 England suffered a 17-run (DLS) defeat in a rain-affected third and final one-day international in Cardiff as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1. After morning rain delayed play by an hour, the hosts reached 77-3 after 17 overs before another lengthy break meant the game was reduced to 33 overs a side.

On a slow surface made even trickier by the weather, Alice Capsey's run-a-ball 45 and a cameo of 27 from Amy Jones pushed the hosts to 181-7. Rain threatened throughout New Zealand's chase, but their middle order played proactively to stay ahead of the run-rate despite being reduced to 40-3 by Lauren Bell early on. She removed legendary New Zealand all-rounder Suzie Bates lbw for 12 in her final ODI appearance, before trapping both Georgia Plimmer and skipper Melie Kerr in front for seven and one respectively.

Brooke Halliday and Maddy Green withstood Bell's spell in helpful bowling conditions to add 57 for the fourth wicket, as the former finished unbeaten on 42 with support from Izzy Gaze's 22 not out. The umpires attempted to play through some evening rain but it became unplayable and New Zealand finished on 141-4, 17 runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) par score. The ODI series is followed by three T20s, the format in which the White Ferns are world champions, starting at Derby on Wednesday.

Despite a modest target, the conditions had favoured seam bowling throughout the day and considering the lack of depth to New Zealand's batting, England were still considered favourites at the halfway mark. Bell was immediately on target. Bates and Plimmer earned a few streaky boundaries before the former was undone by a full, swinging delivery that was just clipping leg stump to end an incredible ODI career of 5,970 runs in 184 matches - the fourth-highest in women's cricket history in both aspects.