She orchestrated a monumental collapse from New Zealand, who were trundling along at 114-3 before losing four wickets without scoring a run and subsequently slipped to 124-9.
It is not that the White Ferns are shorn of fine strikers – in skipper Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr they possess a dangerous trio – but they certainly looked shorn of confidence on a day when they struggled to problem solve their way past England’s supreme spin.
Delivering a display that was as eye-catching as the Rainbow Laces neatly intertwined throughout her plaited hair, Ecclestone masterfully manipulated the line and length, drift and turn of her deliveries with composure that underlined her world-class status.
New Zealand, who were restricted with the bat before their middle order fell like dominoes, simply had no answer to her. Their final total would have been less had it not been for patches of rustiness from England in the field, which was arguably the only blot on their copybook.
It was Kate Cross, an absentee in Durham last week due to an abdominal injury, who set the tone for her side’s impressive performance. Her one wicket and three maidens in her opening five overs certainly made up for lost time and was a microcosm of the hosts’ relentless pressure over the visitors.