Alice Capsey’s 74 Leads England to T20 Series Win Over New Zealand

England took a 1-0 lead in their three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand on Wednesday, powered by Alice Capsey’s unbeaten 74 off 51 balls, her highest score for England and first T20I half-century since July 2024.

Capsey was promoted to open in place of Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who is missing the series due to the imminent birth of her first child. She hit three sixes and seven fours as England chased down their target of 137 with three wickets and 16 balls to spare.

Capsey’s innings was more measured than New Zealand captain Sophie Devine’s earlier 21-ball cameo, which included four sixes over midwicket, three off one over from Sophie Ecclestone. Devine was bowled by Dani Gibson when she failed to connect with a straight delivery.

Unlike Devine, Capsey reached her half-century and saw the innings through, sharing an unbeaten 64-run partnership off 35 balls with Freya Kemp. With the Women’s World Cup starting in three weeks, Capsey has rediscovered her swagger at an opportune time.

The three T20Is against New Zealand and three against India provide England a chance to shake off rust in the format, having last played a T20I in July 2025. Their ring fielding looked sharp throughout.

Nat Sciver-Brunt remains sidelined with a left calf tear, though the team is confident she will be fit for the World Cup. In her absence, Charlie Dean marshaled the bowling well and took two wickets, bowling Izzy Gaze with a turning delivery and having Brooke Halliday caught attempting a big shot.

Injuries aside, this lineup is likely close to England’s World Cup starting XI: Ecclestone, Dean and Linsey Smith formed the spin trio, with Lauren Bell the lone frontline seamer. Eighteen-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman was left out.

The match offered insight into England’s World Cup strategy: Bell and Smith opened the bowling, while Kemp delivered her first two overs for England since January 2025, after recovering from a stress fracture in her back.

Bell started the match dramatically, bowling Georgia Plimmer off the first ball when Plimmer bottom-edged onto her stumps. Smith claimed the key wicket of New Zealand captain Melie Kerr, who drove straight to Bell at mid-off.

Kemp’s return to bowling was encouraging, but questions remain about whether she can regain the express pace that made her a potent threat when first called up as a 17-year-old.

The most surprising development was that world No. 2 spinner Ecclestone finished as England’s most expensive bowler. If coach Charlotte Edwards is serious about including Corteen-Coleman, she may have to consider dropping Ecclestone. For now, England will celebrate a winning start.