Cricket: White Ferns thrashed in final ODI by England

Sophie Devine departs after being dismissed for three. Photosport

The White Ferns have ended their ODI series with England on a sour note after conceding the most runs in their history to lose by 203 runs in Canterbury.

England piled on an impressive 347 for five with Tammy Beaumont scoring 102 for her ninth ODI century and Amy Jones adding 60 off 46 balls late in the innings.

In reply, New Zealand could only manage 144 all out to lose the series 4-1.

The margin of defeat is the second biggest in runs in the history of the White Ferns, with their biggest ever loss coming last October against Australia showing.

England laid a strong platform with Lauren Winfield-Hill (43) and century maker Beaumont putting on 95 for the opening stand. But when Winfield-Hill and England skipper Heather Knight fell within three balls there was hope New Zealand could get on top however they couldn't stop the flow of runs with Nat Sciver (39), Jones, Sophia Dunkley (33) and Danni Wyatt (43) all batting above a run-a-ball to get England over the 300 mark.

New Zealand was let down by 17 wides and 27 extras in total while five of the six White Ferns bowlers conceded at least one six off their bowling.

The White Ferns never looked a chance in the chase with a slow start exacerbated by the departure of Suzie Bates for six in the seventh over ending a rare out of form series for the New Zealand opener who had a high score of 28 in the five matches.

By the 18th over the White Ferns were 66 for five - still 282 shy of the target - with Amy Satterthwaite (six) and captain Sophie Devine (three) also back in the pavilion for single figures.

Lauren Down (27) and Brooke Halliday (27) top-scored for the White Ferns in a tame chase that ended in the 36th over.

Knight, who was named player of the series, finished with 3-24 late in the innings for the hosts though what the scorebook won't show is that two of her wickets came from a long-hop and a full-toss.

It's not all doom and gloom for the White Ferns who head into this summer's home World Cup having won just two of their 17 games since the start of 2020. They pushed England in the opening four games in the series and could have been playing a decider.

"One of those games you flush down the dunny," Devine said after the loss. "We could have gone into this game 4-0 up. Serious competition for places, will hold us in good stead going into the World Cup."