New Zealand shared the series spoils – and the ICC Championship points – after winning the final one-day international at Cardiff on Saturday by six wickets (DLS method).

Lauren Bell had initially reduced the tourists to 40 for three, before giving everyone a scare ahead of next month’s World Cup when she took a blow to a hand in her follow-through and briefly left the field. But stand-in captain Charlie Dean confirmed this had been merely precautionary: “She took a bit of a hit on her left thumb [in practice] yesterday, and it was a bit bruised and sore. When Maddy [Green] hit one back at her it was salt in the wound.”

Bell returned to bowl the 26th over, but the umpires called a halt to proceedings shortly afterwards. By then, a combination of Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday and Izzy Gaze had batted together for long enough and with enough assertiveness to ensure New Zealand were well ahead on DLS to tie the series 1-1.

This will be the only women’s international in Cardiff in 2026 – those in charge of Welsh cricket are reportedly fuming about being denied hosting rights for a World Cup that, in name, is an England-and-Wales affair but in reality isn’t.

Unfortunately, the weather hadn’t got the memo: Saturday proved to be a frustrating day, with the start postponed by an hour due to rain, followed by a further two-and-a-half-hour delay mid-afternoon.

At least, after Wednesday’s washout at Northampton, enough overs were possible to constitute a match. And the permanent clouds looming overhead did wonders for the two swing bowlers, Jess Kerr and Bell. The 21-year-old Jodi Grewcock was tasked with facing Kerr’s mercurial opening spell and batted like a rabbit caught in the headlights, put down behind the stumps on nought before wicketkeeper Gaze finally snaffled her in the 11th over.

In reply, the top three New Zealand batters all fell leg-before to Bell. Strikingly, none of them opted for a DRS review – despite the fact that this was Suzie Bates’s last ever 50-over innings for New Zealand.

But this was a different New Zealand to the brittle side who failed to win a single game on their last tour of England in 2024: this time, their middle-order showed some backbone, fully aware that the loss of further wickets would probably put them behind the Duckworth-Lewis par score.

Green said: “Five years ago we were guilty of relying on a couple of our senior players, but it feels like at the moment we’ve got genuine match-winners throughout our whole side, and that’s really exciting. The team’s in a way better place [than 2024].”

Earlier, England had dragged themselves to 181 for seven either side of the lengthy rain delay as the Kiwi fielders played slip-and-slide. Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp upped the tempo after the resumption, sharing a sprightly 57 partnership, but a mini-collapse of three wickets in 11 balls crushed hopes of a big finish.

The match was also the last hurrah for one of the true greats of 50-over cricket. But sometimes the great careers end with a whimper, not a bang: and so it was at Cardiff. Bates – who has scored almost 6,000 runs across a 20-year, 184-match ODI career –sent down two overs of the very slow off-spin which she has adopted since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2020, failing to take a wicket; then showcased one last on-drive for four and played all round a straight one from Bell, adding just 12 runs to her phenomenal career tally.

“She’s still one of the fittest in our team at 38, she’s the hardest worker, and an amazing teammate,” Green said. “She leaves a massive hole for us for sure.”