Defending T20 World Cup champs ease past New Zealand

A DOMINANT performance from Australia saw them outclass New Zealand and take control of Group A at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

The six-time champions bested their antipodean neighbours in all facets of the game, winning by 60 runs to cement their spot at the top of Group A.

It was the Australian top order who set up the win with an aggressive batting effort having won the toss, as Alyssa Healy (26 from 20), Beth Mooney (40 from 32), Ellyse Perry (30 from 24) and Phoebe Litchfield (18 from 18) did the heavy lifting to set New Zealand 149 to win in Sharjah.

And the White Ferns slumped to a 60-run loss as they were blitzed by a brilliant bowling effort from the defending champions, for whom Megan Schutt returned extraordinary figures of 3/3 from her 3.2 overs, with Sophie Molineux (2/15) and Annabel Sutherland (3/21) also impressing.

The margin of defeat could have been even greater were it not for Melie Kerr, who hit back to restrict Australia with an inspired display in the field, taking 4/26 and holding on to a terrific catch, before top-scoring for her side with 29.

The nature of the result could have a big impact on the final shake-up in Group A, with New Zealand taking a significant hit to their net run rate.

New Zealand’s chase suffered an early setback when Schutt wrote herself into the record books, bowling Georgia Plimmer (4) in the third over to become the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup.

The White Ferns looked intent on setting a platform early in their effort, reaching 29/1 at the end of the powerplay, with Kerr and Suzie Bates surviving a testing spell against the Australian attack.

But the innings turned on the wicket of Kerr (29 from 31), who looked to take on Schutt to up the scoring rate and miscued a catch straight to Sutherland.

The wickets tumbled from thereon in.

Georgia Wareham got in on the act, accounting for Brooke Halliday (2), before Sutherland took centre stage, putting herself on a hat trick as she cleaned up Maddy Green (1) and then had Isabella Gaze (0) trapped in front next ball.

The hat trick wasn’t to be, but Sutherland bagged her third wicket when she cleaned up Rosemary Mair, finishing with figures of 3/21.

Schutt returned to finish the match off, bagging her third wicket to wrap up a statement win for her team.

SUPERB START

Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first, and they got off to a superb start as Healy sparkled in the early overs, peppering the boundary in her 26 (20).

New Zealand picked up the big wicket when Healy skied a catch off Mair to bring Perry to the crease, but fellow opener Mooney picked up the mantle to build a decent platform for the defending champions.

Australia reached 43/1 at the end of the six-over powerplay though Perry struggled to get going at the start of her innings as the scoring rate briefly slowed.

However, Mooney carried on where she left off in Australia’s win over Sri Lanka, keeping the scoreboard ticking over to give her team’s deep batting lineup a large platform to build off in the back end of the innings.

Mooney’s innings came to an end when she mistimed a shot off Kerr, offing a simple catch to Green, departing for 40 (32).

New Zealand then hit back through the middle overs as an inspired Kerr bowled Perry (30 from 24) and new batter Grace Harris with consecutive balls to reduce the Aussies to 109/4.

Kerr picked up a fourth wicket when she had Georgia Wareham caught for 4 (5), finishing with figures of 4/26. She was heavily involved in the field too, pulling off an excellent catch in the deep to remove Phoebe Litchfield (18 from 18) off the bowling of Brooke Halliday.

Australia closed on 148/8, leaving New Zealand with a target that proved far too challenging in the second innings.

New Zealand’s loss puts them down to third in Group A with a negative NRR and key fixtures against Sri Lanka and Pakistan still to come, while Australia top the group after two convincing wins.

The T20 World Cup will see 23 matches held in total over 18 days, with all matches in the two host cities of Dubai and Sharjah.

Courtesy of icc-cricket.com