White Ferns v England: Coach Ben Sawyer bemoans batting woes after second T20 in Nelson

The White Ferns again found the target out of their reach. Photo / Photosport

The White Ferns are well aware of their biggest batting problem but a solution is unlikely to arrive in time to save this series.

England enjoyed a second straight T20 win over their hosts in Nelson on Friday, a game that followed an unfortunately familiar pattern for New Zealand.

Set 150 for victory — having failed to overhaul a target of 161 in game one — the White Ferns batters were bogged down by England’s spinners during the middle overs and the chase never reached requisite pace.

The home side again saw out their allotment, falling 15 runs short after ending with a deficit of 27 on Tuesday, as a five-match series slipped further away.

The teams will return to Saxton Oval on Sunday and that tight turnaround leaves little time to find answers for an inability to chase challenging scores against quality spin attacks.

But with six months before a T20 World Cup is played on the turning tracks of Bangladesh, coach Ben Sawyer knows those answers are desperately needed.

“We started really well and then needed eights through the middle and just weren’t able to do it once again,” Sawyer said. “That’s probably twice now through the middle has let us down a little bit, we know that and the girls are working really hard to try and fix it.

“It’s just how is each player individually going to play that slower bowling. All the coaches are working with them to find what’s their best shot to that slower ball.

“That’s been highlighted in these two games and it’s not going to be easy to turn around before Sunday, but it’s definitely something we know is going to be quite dominant in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

“It’s not that we don’t want to fix it tomorrow, but it’s going to take a little bit of time.”

The return of two of New Zealand’s most aggressive batters failed to produce a quick fix.

Sophie Devine made an immediate impact with the ball, striking from her first delivery, but the skipper conceded 18 runs in the final over as counterpart Heather Knight scored another half-century to lift England from a 77-6 hole.

Amelia Kerr (44 off 36) then appeared poised to lead the chase, playing with confidence to reduce the target to 50 from 33 balls, but her wicket sparked a collapse that saw New Zealand lose 5-8.

England’s three spinners — Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and Sarah Glenn — snared four scalps at an economy rate of 6.2 from 12 overs as only Devine, Kerr and Suzie Bates were able to find the boundary.

While Devine earlier this week bemoaned the lack of depth on the domestic scene, it was veteran Maddy Green again applying the handbrake to her side’s innings. Having scored eight off 14 at No 4 in game one, Green produced an equally insipid knock of 16 off 24 while batting at No 5.

The 31-year-old averages 17 from 73 T20I innings, and given she has been followed in the batting order by Brooke Halliday (11.6 from 18 innings), the weight of run-scoring rests firmly with the top order.

Sawyer pointed to the pivotal dismissal of a set batter in Kerr for his side’s inability to approach a total he had been content to chase.

“To chase 150 on a good wicket and a good outfield, we’ve got to be able to do that,” the coach said. “We’ve just got to find a way to be able to tick over to those bigger ones.”