±«Óãtv

Alex Hartley
England spinner on ±«Óãtv Test Match Special

It's very windy out there.

Suzie Bates nudges into the leg side for a single, the first off the bat.

Jack: Prediction for tonight: Win the toss and bowl first. Rain-affected game, shorter run chase will take place. England will win it in a super over!

First prediction has come through Jack!

The first legitimate delivery is better, catching Bates high on the pads but next up it's another legside wide.

Ooops, not a great start as Brunt sends a wide way down the leg side.

Right, here we go.

New Zealand openers Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates are in the middle, Katherine Brunt has marked out her run up and we are all set.

Alex Hartley
England spinner on ±«Óãtv Test Match Special

England will want to bowl first and try and take quick wickets. With the DL method you've always got to be looking at the scoreboard in the second innings.

The pitch looks like a belter, it's the same one that was used yesterday and given that Australia chased down India's 277 then we might be in for another run-fest if the weather holds.

The odd thing is that a good friend of mine, Dave, is cycling the length of NZ at the moment and after three weeks he has not seen any rain. In New Zealand! Madness.

I don't mean to put a dampener on the occasion, but being from the Lake District I'm naturally disposed to check the weather for any reason. And I'm sorry to say it does not look good in Auckland today based on the forecast, but it's OK at the moment and seems to be getting brighter.

Image source, ±«Óãtv Sport

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: "We were actually going to bat first so it has actually worked out for both teams.

"We know the history but it doesn't matter today. Today's a new day, a fresh start and we've been playing some great cricket. We've obviously been on the wrong side of some extremely close games so we've taken plenty of positives.

"We just know that we [need to] play consistent cricket for long periods of time.

"It's outstanding as a huge All Blacks supporter to be out in the middle of Eden Park this is huge. It's an awesome opportunity and the girls are going to embrace it in every way."

England captain Heather Knight: "With a little bit of weather around I think it will be a very good pitch, with good seam conditions. It looks like a very good pitch, last night it looked very good for batting.

"Hopefully we can keep them to a low total and try to chase it.

"The monkey is off our back now, it was nice to change the momentum a little bit. It was always going to be a scrappy win with the close games we've had.

"The main thing is we're still alive and raring to go to get that win."

Heather Knight called 'heads', got it right and England will bowl. It's overcast and blustery, so you can see why the England skipper opted for that.

Both sides are unchanged from the elevens they named for their last matches.

This is one you can place in the file marked "must win" for both sides, it could be a cracker but without any further ado let's get to the news of the toss, which was slightly delayed but we are due to start on time at Eden Park.