Australia rout New Zealand to top group in Women’s T20 World Cup cricket
Mediumpacers Megan Schutt and Annabel Sutherland undermine Kiwi chase in Sharjah
Sharjah: Australia have been dominating the Trans-Tasman rivalry for years. So the 60-run thrashing of New Zealand in Sharjah in the Women’s T20 World Cup wasn’t a surprise. Australia top Group A with four points after Tuesday’s win, while New Zealand, India and Pakistan, who have suffered a loss each in two matches, will nurture ambitions of claiming the second semi-final spot. Sri Lanka lost both matches.
It was easy to see why Australia are six-time winners as they put forth a clinical display with the bat and ball. Choosing to bat, the defending champions started brilliantly before tailing away to finish at 148 when a total of over 160 looked possible. After the break, they returned to curb the enthusiasm of New Zealand to strike quick blows to stifle the chase that ended at 88.
Smarter show needed
Australian captain Alyssa Healy bemoaned their batting failures. ”We could have been smarter with the bat at the end, but we came out really well with the ball, and I’m really happy with that. The middle order has done a good job in the last [match], and the lower order hadn’t had a lot of practice,” she told the broadcaster.
After the early loss of Georgia Plimmer, New Zealand fought back through Suzie Bates (20 runs off 27 balls) and Amelia Kerr (29 off 31), whose 47 runs for the second wicket gave the Kiwis plenty of hope. After Bates fell to left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux (2-5) at 54, the rest of the batting crashed and burned against the Australian mediumpacers Megan Schutt (3-3) and Annabel Sutherland (3-21) bowler.
A capitulation indeed. Captain Sophie Devine, the star of the win over India, was stranded at one end before being out ninth. She blamed the soaring required run rate for the sudden slump.
“We needed a good start, and we let the run rate creep up too much. By the ten-over mark, it was up over 10-an-over. At the halfway mark, we thought the wicket played better than we thought it would. But we got ourselves into a bit of a hole,” Devine said, adding that her bowlers were guilty of straying from the stumps.
Formidable total
Earlier, Australia ran up a formidable total with Healy (26 off 19) leading the way with some well-struck boundaries in the powerplay and added 69 for the first wicket with Beth Mooney (40 off 32). Healy’s departure created a boundary shortage before Ellyse Perry (30 off 24) stepped on the accelerator with a 45-run stand with Mooney and 23 with Phoebe Litchfield (18 off 18).
When Australia threatened a massive total, Kiwi leg-spinner Kerr stuck twice in two balls to trigger a slide, and they finished below 150. That was good enough as the Kiwis came up short despite Kerr’s all-round display (29 & 4-26). Australia’s Shutt pipped Kerr for the Player of the Match award.
The Australian win has made the race for the second semi-final spot interesting, as it dealt a huge blow to New Zealand’s net run rate and pushed them to the third spot on the table. India and Pakistan are also in the mix.
Brief scores:
Australia beat New Zealand by 60 runs. Australia: 148/8 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 40, Ellyse Perry 30, Alyssa Healy 26; Amelia Kerr 4-26, Brooke Halliday 2-16, Rosemary Mair 2-22) beat New Zealand: 88 in 19.2 overs (Amelia Kerr 29, Suzie Bates 20, Megan Schutt 3-3, Annabel Sutherland 3-21, Sophie Molineux 2-5). Player of the match: Megan Schutt.