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If the Aussies are in the mood, then it would take something special to stop them in this World Cup. It turned out to be a special Sunday for them. But not for New Zealand and the cricket fans as it turned out to be one-way traffic. We have a double-header tomorrow and you make sure to follow the live updates on our Sportskeeda page. See you all tomorrow for more cricketing action in this WWC but for now, this is Pragadeesh waving goodbye on behalf of my fellow colleague Abhishek. See yaa
A thumping win for the Aussies and they hardly broke a sweat. Geez, this team is from another planet. Perry and Brown ran through the New Zealand top order in the powerplay as the Kiwis lost four wickets for just eight runs. Except for Amy Satterthwaite, the rest of the batters struggled. Martin and Satterthwaite stitched a 38-run partnership but Wellington dismissed the former before getting rid of Hayley Jensen in the next ball.
Then Tahuhu played some aggressive shots but it only helped to reduce the deficit. Darcie Brown was the pick of the bowlers as she picked up three wickets. In the end, the better team won. Perry's mature knock, Gardner's onslaught and the bowlers proved to be the difference as the Aussies put up a commanding performance. Also, with a massive win, Meg Lanning's team sit comfortably at the top with a healthy net run rate (+1.63)
Meg Lanning: Yeah it was a crucial period. We could've been under a little bit of pressure but that's the depth we have. It's great to have Gardner back. She had tough 10 days. We felt it was a good score and we had to go hard with a new ball. We really had a tough selection today as Jess Jonassen missed out. The selection worked today but on the other day it might have not. That's how we see the selection process these days and move on
Sophia Devine: That's the reason why I decided to bowl first to get quite a few wickets and put pressure on them. It's a combination of both. Her batting was superb, hitting with the wind and it carried 20-30 meters further. Certainly, 250-260 seems par and with the fast outfield, we thought we could have chased with wickets in hand. It was a poor batting display. It's nice for us to get the extra day and make sure we reflect and get ready for the next match.
Ellyse Perry: Yes (on the partnership between Beth Mooney and me), it was important to rebuild in the middle. It was good to finish strong. The pitch was a nicely set for the batters. It was a good batting wicket but NZ struggled to get their act going. Darcie (Brown) more than deserves to get the wickets. I was hoping to shape it more but Darcie bowled amazingly. We know how dangerous that Kiwi top order are and we got them. As a quick bowling group, we spend some nice time. We are happy with our bowling performance on this good batting track.
31.0
30.2 Ashleigh Gardner to Lea Tahuhu, DOWN ON ONE KNEE AND TAKEN FINALLY! It is full and around legs, Tahuhu tries to slog sweep it but Beth Mooney watches the ball closely before collecting it at the cow corner position.
30.1 Ashleigh Gardner to Lea Tahuhu, length and around legs, Tahuhu takes a step forward but the ball raps her on the front pad.
Gardner to continue
Tahuhu continues to tease the Aussie fielders. It's time for Drinks
30
overs
128/9score
4
1
0
0
0
1
runs
Lea Tahuhu*
23(23)
Jess Kerr
6(5)
Megan Schutt
1/22
29.6 Megan Schutt to Lea Tahuhu, DROPPED AGAIN! Length and on the stumps, Tahuhu tries to pull it but ends up spraying it just short of the diving mid on fielder. It was a tough take to be honest.
29.5 Megan Schutt to Lea Tahuhu, slow, length, and just outside off, Tahuhu goes for the slog sweep but misses it completely.
29.4 Megan Schutt to Lea Tahuhu, yorker on the stumps, Tahuhu defends it on the frontfoot.
29.3 Megan Schutt to Lea Tahuhu, length and outside off, stabbed down the ground.
29.2 Megan Schutt to Jess Kerr, DROPPED! Back of a length and outside off, Kerr slices it as the ball just falls short of Haynes at backward point.
29.1 Megan Schutt to Jess Kerr, FOUR! Length and outside off, Kerr takes a step forward and tries to go straight but gets an outside edge as the ball flies past the backward point fielder giving it a chase.
Satterthwaite turns out to be New Zealand's stand-out batsman but she didn't get any support from the other end. Australia are one wicket away from a commanding win
29
overs
122/9score
1
0
W
0
0
1
runs
Lea Tahuhu
22(19)
Jess Kerr*
1(3)
Ashleigh Gardner
1/15
28.6 Ashleigh Gardner to Jess Kerr, back of a length and on the stumps, Kerr pulls it to backward square leg for a single.
28.5 Ashleigh Gardner to Jess Kerr, back of a length and outside off, played with soft hands on the backfoot.