White Ferns out of Twenty20 World Cup after England win

Retiring White Ferns legends don't get the farewell they were hoping for.

The White Ferns are out of the T20 World Cup, after being thumped by England in their final pool match.

England won by nine wickets, chasing down New Zealand's 163 for six, with 14 balls to spare.

The defeat ends the careers of legendary players Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu, who are retiring.

New Zealand batted first, scoring 163 for six, with captain Melie Kerr top scoring with 42 from 34 balls.

Devine looked sharp in what was her last international match, scoring an impressive 30 from 14 balls, including three 6s. Bates also batted well, run out off the final ball, after scoring 19 from 13 balls.

But England made short work of the chase, due to an unbeaten second wicket partnership between Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley.

The pair batted superbly, combining for an unbroken stand of 128, to guide England home by nine wickets with 14 balls to spare.

Wyatt-Hodge was named player of the match, scoring 89 not out from 53 balls, while Dunkley finished 49 not out from 38 balls.

The defeat was not the way the three Kiwis would have wanted to leave international cricket, but all three had stellar careers.

Devine played 316 white-ball games for New Zealand in a 20 year career, Tahuhu 206 matches over 15 years, and Bates retires as the most capped and greatest run scoring White Fern of all time, with 10,721 runs in her 369 games.

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