Devine devastates England to lead NZ to bronze

Sophie Devine has ensured the White Ferns will take a Commonwealth Games bronze medal home to New Zealand, leading her side to an eight-wicket thumping of hosts England in the third-place playoff.

New Zealand had just a 12-hour turnaround following Saturday’s semi-final defeat to Australia, but were switched on from the start as they restricted England’s strong batting line-up to just 9-110 from their 20 overs.

Devine then hit an unbeaten 51 from 40 balls to guide her side to victory with 49 balls to spare.

Image Id: B3A8B85C2BFC4223AC2DB796DFFCB553 Image Caption: Sophie Devine dominated with bat and ball to lead New Zealand to bronze // Getty

"A lot of people weren’t expecting us even to make the semis. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet," Devine told reporters after the match.

"At the start of my career we made a couple of finals in a row but were never able to take home the trophy. To take something home for all your work is something special."

England elected to bat first, but lost their first wicket just seven balls into the match when Suzie Bates held on to a sharp chance off the bat of Danni Wyatt, who had to depart for four.

Alice Capsey could not continue her excellent breakout tournament, caught behind off the bowling of Hannah Rowe for five.

Natalie Sciver looked to wrest back momentum for England as she struck five boundaries, but was bowled by Devine on 27 off 19, leaving England 3-44.

Wickets continued to tumble when Sophia Dunkey (8) was bowled after advancing down the pitch to leg-spinner Amelia Kerr, and Maia Boucher (4) was trapped on the pads by teenage spinner Fran Jonas.

Image Id: 3615AB6EAC5C4033BEA9684957FE7C8D Image Caption: Natalie Sciver has her stumps rattled by Sophie Devine // Getty

When Katherine Brunt (4) holed out in the deep England were reeling at 6-63.

Amy Jones (26) was joined by Sophie Ecclestone (18) in an important 37-run stand, but both were removed in the space of three balls, and Issy Wong followed for a duck as England lost 3-0.

Hayley Jensen finished with 3-24, with Devine (2-11) and Jonas (2-22) the other multiple wicket takers.

Bates gave the White Ferns a fast start in reply, racing to 21 off 10 before she was well caught by Sarah Glenn at short fine leg.

Second-gamer Georgia Plimmer contributed four before she was caught at slip, but England could not make another breakthrough as Kerr (21no off 15) joined Devine to steer New Zealand to an emphatic victory.

Image Id: 0CC47F508E2841A5AA4798B3C9554B19 Image Caption: England were gutted to miss out on the medals at a home event // Getty

Speaking after the match, an emotional Brunt said the loss, and ending the Games without a medal, was one of the toughest blows of her 22-year England career.

"This is really hard. I'm gutted," she said.

"We're a lot better than that. We had a big knock losing Heather (Knight) … huge head on her shoulders, loads of experience, plenty of runs in the bank. We took a big hit but we tried our best for her.

"We thought we'd done enough but that (semi-final) against India was brutal.

"On a personal level it's my one and only shot at that (a Commonwealth Games medal), so I'm taking it quite badly. I'm exhausted, I've given it everything I've got.

"It felt different, like the actual whole country was behind us. We're sad we let them down."

Image Id: 8AA24F3ADDC449CBBA2275060F5481EF Image Caption: Sophie Devine was elated to win a bronze medal for New Zealand // Getty

The result stood in stark contrast to New Zealand’s seven-wicket group-stage thrashing at the hands of the same opposition on Thursday.

It was the second time New Zealand have claimed a Commonwealth Games bronze in cricket, after the Black Caps achieved the same result when men’s 50-over cricket featured at the 1998 event.

The White Ferns will have to wait until Sunday evening to receive their bronze medals, with all three colours to be presented following the final between Australia and India.

The bronze medal is a significant boon for new coach Ben Sawyer - formerly assistant coach of Australia - who was appointed several months' ago after New Zealand's group-stage exit at their home one-day World Cup.

Sawyer praised the resilience of his side to bounce back after their defeat to Australia on Saturday night.

"We didn't get home until 11 o'clock last night," he said. "To then get up five or six hours later and produce that on a big stage was really special."

2022 Commonwealth Games

Australia's squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington

See all the Commonwealth Games cricket squads here

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, Barbados

Group B: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

July 29: Australia beat India by three wickets

July 31: Australia beat Barbados by nine wickets

August 3: Australia beat Pakistan by 44 runs

Semi-finals: August 6

India beat England by four runs

Australia beat New Zealand by five wickets

Bronze medal match: New Zealand beat England by eight wickets

Gold medal match: Australia v India, August 7, 5pm local (2am Aug 8 AEST)

All matches played at Edgbaston Stadium. Watch live or on demand via 7Plus