England women beat New Zealand to level ODI series

Player of the match Kate Cross (5-24) took her maiden five-wicket international haul

England women beat New Zealand by nine wickets in Lincoln to level the one-day series at 2-2 with one match remaining.

Chasing 169, Sarah Taylor (89 not out) and captain Charlotte Edwards (64 not out) came together after Heather Knight was dismissed for five.

They put on 158 to steer the tourists to victory with 17.5 overs to spare and set up a decider on Saturday.

England dismissed the home side for 168 with seamer Kate Cross taking 5-24 and spinner Rebecca Grundy claiming 3-36.

Cross, who was named player of the match, said that not being selected for some of the games on the tour made her determined to make "a bit of an impression".

"I've never had a player of the match award or a five-for for England so I will remember this for a long time," she said.

She also praised the way Edwards and Taylor batted to secure the victory.

"It's pretty special when those two get going and both of them were absolutely outstanding," she added.

"Sarah Taylor played an absolute blinder and a few people that have watched this will say that was one of her best innings."

New Zealand had led 2-1 after the first three ODI games, which counted towards the International Cricket Council Women's Championship.

The teams then played a Twenty20 series, which England won 2-1 on Wednesday in Edwards' 200th match as captain, before the ODI series resumed on Thursday.

However, the final two ODIs do not count towards the ICC Championship.

New Zealand's last two wickets added 42 and 27 respectively

Charlotte Edwards was captaining England for the 201st time in an international

The ODI series now goes to a deciding final match