Amy Jones revealed a mental refresh following a recent run drought lay behind her match-winning 92 not out for England as they battled back to beat New Zealand in Wellington.
England lurched to 79 for six after 17 overs chasing 208 in the first ODI but Jones and Charlie Dean put on an unbroken 130 as the tourists sealed a four-wicket victory with 52 balls to spare.
It was a spectacular return to form for Jones – who made just 23 runs in four innings in the T20 series, albeit helping England over the line in the final match on Friday with a brief cameo – while she was without an international fifty in 28 innings across all formats dating back to December 2022.
But the 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter feels decluttering her mind and getting back to basics allowed her to shine as England moved into a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
“Over the last week, I’ve had some good reflections on areas that I want to improve in terms of being there at the end, it’s something I feel like I’ve fallen short at over a period of time,” Jones said.
“Recognising where my mind was going in those past situations and there was definitely an element of feeling like I needed to force a boundary and get ahead of the rate.
“I don’t need to do that, I play at my best when I’m reacting to the ball and that doesn’t change depending on the situation.
“Me and Deano were constantly saying ‘one ball at a time’ and ‘just react’, which kept us in the moment. For that to pay off, (this innings) ranks quite highly I’d say.”
Dean took three for 57 en route to becoming the fastest woman to 50 ODI wickets as New Zealand crumbled from 90 without loss to 207 all out in the 49th over.
After England’s top-order wobble, Dean proved a useful foil for Jones with an unbeaten 42 off 70 deliveries, contributing just one four, compared with 10 from Jones in a superb 83-ball innings.
But the pair dovetailed excellently as they put on the highest ever partnership for the seventh wicket or lower in women’s ODIs. The teams will now head to Hamilton for the remaining two ODIs.
“Walking out, I just wanted to start my innings, as I would in any situation, trying to build a partnership but be positive, knowing that the required run-rate wasn’t high,” Jones said.
“To get that win was huge for us and under tricky circumstances, the whole batting group will get a lot of confidence from how we managed to get over the line.”
Maxwell leads Australia to opening T20I victory
Glenn Maxwell's impressive 43 powered Australia to a 29-run victory over Pakistan in their opening T20I, which was heavily affected by rain.
Both teams were able to play seven overs each after a thunderstorm in Brisbane delayed proceedings, but it did not affect Australia's performance as they took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Matt Short (7) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) were both taken early, but Maxwell's 43 off 19 balls, which included eight boundaries, turned the tide.
Abbas Afridi (2-9) took him and Tim David (10), but with Marcus Stoinis' 21, the damage was already done as Australia finished 93-4.
Pakistan struggled to gain any momentum, with none of their first six batters hitting double figures and Sahibzada Farhan's eight was the best of that group.
The wickets toppled thanks to Xavier Bartlett (3-13) and Nathan Ellis (3-9), and even though Afridi salvaged some pride with his unbeaten 20 to help them reach 64-9, they fell short of their target.
Data Debrief: Home advantage
Despite the shortened nature of the game, Australia still made their mark in some style. They extended their winning run in Brisbane in the process, with this their fifth T20I victory in a row at The Gabba.
On the other side, Babar Azam will have been hoping for a better performance on what was a landmark day for him - he has now made the outright most appearances for Pakistan in T20Is (124), overtaking Shoaib Malik. He also broke the record for the most catches by a fielder in T20Is for Pakistan (52), going past Fakhar Zaman's 50.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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