Daryl Mitchell's runs had steered the hosts to their victories in Tauranga and Hamilton and when he departed for 44 to leave his team still 27 runs from their target on 196-8, the English scented an unlikely victory.
India's Shreyas Iyer scored a half-century and fast bowlers Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh took a combined five wickets as the home side beat Australia by six runs in the final Twenty20 International to deny the visitors a consolation win on Sunday.
Veteran allrounder Marizanne Kapp excelled with both bat and ball, while skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus also smashed fine half-centuries as South Africa defeated Pakistan by 150 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-affected Women's World Cup match to go top of the table, in Colombo, on Tuesday.
A dominant Australia hammered India by 10 wickets in the day-night second Test on Sunday to level the five-match series 1-1.
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma's superb all-round showing powered India to a historic first-ever Women's ODI World Cup title after they outclassed South Africa by 52 runs in the final.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt scored a hundred for the ages before the seasoned Marizanne Kapp made the ball talk in good batting conditions to script a 125-run victory over England and enter their maiden Women's ODI Cup final, in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
They will meet the winner of Wednesday's second semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand in the final in Dubai on Sunday.
England skipper Jos Buttler expressed delight in Ben Duckett's record-breaking knock even as he hailed Australia for chasing down a massive total of 352 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy Group B match in Lahore on Saturday.
Steve Smith became the 15th member of Test cricket's 10,000-run club as he and opener Usman Khawaja smashed hundreds to help Australia rack up 330/2 on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Images from the ICC Champions League Group B match between Afghanistan and Australia in Lahore, on Friday.
South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt said that once their Women's World Cup contest against Sri Lanka was reduced to 20 overs a side, she treated it like a T20 game and came out to bat with the same mindset, in Colombo, on Friday.
Harmanpreet was quick to highlight fielding as the area that India needs to address quickly before facing South Africa and Australia on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
Daniel Vettori admitted that a resilient partnership between Indian tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep foiled their plans to enforce a follow-on
Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith hailed his side's resounding innings and 242-run victory over Sri Lanka in Galle on Saturday as "near flawless" after the visitors retained the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy.
Wolvaardt, Tazmin fire South Africa to 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in truncated game
Australia's second-string pace attack produced a first-rate display to sink Pakistan with a comprehensive 29-run win in the weather-truncated first T20 International on Thursday.
'...there was a time there where it could have been 250 or 270 (run lead) or maybe even less there for a bit.'
Sri Lanka and New Zealand shared points as their Women's World Cup match was abandoned due to persistent rain, in Colombo, on Tuesday.
Skipper Alyssa Healy led from the front with a masterful 142 as Australia pulled off a record chase of 331 to beat India by three wickets in their Women's World Cup group match on Sunday.
Travis Head took 4-28 as Australia strangled England with spin before launching a rapid pursuit of their target with rain in the air to clinch the One-Day International series 3-2 following a 49-run win via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in Bristol on Sunday.
Brits ton, Mlaba's four-for power South Africa to commanding win over New Zealand
Though Australia have dominated the rain-hit Test, time will most likely deny the hosts.
Dimuth Karunaratne's Test career ended in a whimper as Sri Lanka's most prolific Test opener fell caught behind to Kuhnemann after making 14.
Images from Day 3 of the fifth Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the MCG on Friday.
With a heavy downpour preventing the resumption of play after the break, the match was abandoned and the series remains locked at 1-1.
Sciver-Brunt's record ton, Ecclestone's magical spell power England to 89-run win over Sri Lanka
India overpowered New Zealand by 53 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Women's ODI World Cup.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between Australia and India in Brisbane on Saturday.
'...When you come back home, when there's three spinners playing and the field's spread out, you really need to get your runs with singles. The boundaries don't come that easily.'
The opening day drew more than 50,000 fans making it the fourth highest attendance ever for a day of Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval.
Australia clinched a 3-0 T20I series sweep over Pakistan in Hobart, powered by a blistering unbeaten 61 off 27 balls from Marcus Stoinis on Monday.
India fight back against Australia as 17 wickets tumble on opening day
Pat Cummins took five wickets as Australia maintained their unblemished record in 'Pink-ball' Tests with a thumping 10-wicket victory over India in the second Test in Adelaide on Sunday to level the five-match series 1-1 in just two-and-a-half days.
Australia speedster Spencer Johnson claimed a maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket as the hosts edged out Pakistan by 13 runs in the second Twenty20 International on Saturday
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon made history on Friday as they became the first bowling quartet in Test history to take 500 Test wickets while playing together.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth on Monday.
Images from Day 2 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Saturday.
Travis Head scored his second successive hundred while veteran Steve Smith wore the opposition down with a statement century to put Australia in control
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth, on Friday.
