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England vs New Zealand: Maia Bouchier and Sophie Ecclestone star in hosts’ eight-wicket win

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Maia Bouchier struck her maiden international century as England thrashed New Zealand by eight wickets at Worcester.

Bouchier, 25, hit the winning runs in England’s chase of just 142 which also brought up her hundred from 88 balls.

The opener hit 17 fours and added 73 for the first wicket with Tammy Beaumont in another one-sided contest that gives England an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Earlier, spinner Sophie Ecclestone starred with 5-25 as New Zealand were skittled for 141 in 41.5 overs.

Amelia Kerr, who made 43, and Maddy Green with 30 were steadily building a platform at 114-3, before a woeful collapse of seven wickets for just 27 runs.

After being skittled for 156 in the opener, New Zealand’s batters were visibly short of confidence against slower bowling, with eight wickets falling to spin here to follow the seven at Chester-le-Street.

They played with little intent, crawling to 26-2 from the powerplay before Ecclestone crucially had skipper Sophie Devine stumped for 28 as she was threatening to accelerate.

Amelia Kerr and Green’s stand of 58 followed but then chaos ensued, with Charlie Dean pinning the latter lbw to spark the dramatic collapse which included a passage of four wickets for no runs.

England’s openers then tucked into plenty of loose bowling against a weary attack again tasked with defending a paltry total.

The only real challenge presented by the White Ferns was for Bouchier to reach her century in a race against time with the runs required to win, but Nat Sciver-Brunt calmly guided her to the milestone in an emphatic performance in a breakthrough year for the opener.

The three-match series continues at Bristol on Wednesday and is followed by five T20s.



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Euro 2024: Mert Gunok compared with Gordon Banks after ‘unbelievable’ save sends Turkey into quarter-finals

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Turkey defender Merih Demiral, who scored twice – including the quickest knockout-stage goal in European Championship history – was named man of the match but paid tribute to Gunok afterwards.

“Mert did a great job, we had a big discussion after the final whistle and I couldn’t believe my eyes – maybe one of the best saves I saw with my own eyes,” Demiral said.

“He deserves it, Mert is the oldest player on the team and has always guided us and shown us the path forward, so I am very happy he made that save.”

Turkey boss Vincenzo Montella was one of the few people not to use superlatives when talking about Gunok’s stop, but he did not downplay its importance for his country’s cause.

“I don’t know, because there have been so many spectacular saves,” Montella said when asked his thoughts on where Gunok’s save ranked in the all-time list.

“I am happy for him, happy for the team, happy for the country and happy for the group we have created here and what we produced out there today.

“Well done to Mert, that is his job, to make saves and we are very happy he made a match-winning save in the last minute.”

The reward for Turkey and their army of devoted fans is a quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday, and Montella feels anything is possible with their support.

“We have a huge following, there is passion and love,” he explained.

“It is very visceral back home in Turkey so I am very happy to have handed our Turks here in Germany a bit of pride, and across the world.

“This responsibility, love and support we constantly feel it, but you can only embrace these dreams if you work hard from day one – we will celebrate tonight but then we get down to work.”



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Jeff Whitefoot: Busby Babe and Nottingham Forest FA Cup winner dies aged 90

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Jeff Whitefoot, the last surviving member of Manchester United’s Busby Babes side of the 1950s, has died aged 90.

The wing-half joined United straight from school and was part of the Red Devils’ 1952 and 1956 title-winning sides under manager Sir Matt Busby.

He left for a short spell at Grimsby in 1957 before moving to Nottingham Forest, where he made more than 250 appearances and won the FA Cup in 1959.

“There were few more perceptive and precise passers of a football in England than Jeff during the mid-1950s,” read a Manchester United statement.

“He played the game with a cool, seemingly casual grace which masked a sharp competitive edge.”

Whitefoot became United’s youngest league debutant against Portsmouth in April 1950 aged 16 years and 105 days.

He made 95 appearances and earned one cap for England Under-23s before moving to Grimsby in late 1957.

Just months later the Munich air disaster in February 1958 claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight of Whitefoot’s former United team-mates.

He spent just one season at Grimsby before moving to Forest, where he would remain for 11 years before retiring in 1967.



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Relive the winning moments from Murray's Wimbledon titles

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Watch the winning moments from Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victories against Novak Djokovic in 2013 and Milos Raonic in 2016.



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