England’s second ODI against New Zealand was washed out after persistent rain prevented any play at the County Ground. The hosts had won the opening match in Durham on Monday by one wicket, with their final pair just getting past the White Ferns’ total of 210.
England had brought Sophie Ecclestone back into their XI after she missed the one-wicket win in Durham on Sunday. She was set to feature alongside fellow left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman, the 18-year-old who made her international debut in that match. Corteen-Coleman took two wickets and then shared an unbeaten 10th-wicket partnership with Charlie Dean to seal England’s victory.
Lauren Filer was left out in one of two changes England made to their named starting XI. As expected, allrounder Alice Capsey was also set to return after recovering from illness, coming in for Jodi Grewcock, who had made her debut in the previous game. New Zealand named an unchanged team.
However, the weather took control of the contest. After several hours of movement between the groundstaff and the covers, steady showers during the afternoon forced the umpires to abandon the match at 4.45pm.
Rain arrived just as the toss was scheduled at the County Ground, causing an initial delay of two hours.
When conditions briefly improved, Melie Kerr won the toss and chose for New Zealand to bowl first. She told broadcasters that, with rain interruptions likely, her side wanted clarity on what target they would need to chase.
But the rain returned almost immediately, and 75 minutes later the game was called off.
The two teams will meet again in Cardiff on Saturday for the final ODI of the series before moving into a three-match T20I series.
