That’s Australia’s 16th straight win against New Zealand. Ash Gardner picks up player of the match for her 115 that saved Australia’s innings after they were reduced to 128-5. Sophie Molineux, Annabel Sutherland and Alana King then picked up eight wickets between them to bowl New Zealand out for 237.
New Zealand’s chase got off to a shocking start with Georgia Plimmer run out without facing a ball and Suzie Bates falling for a duck. Sophie Devine’s 111 kept New Zealand ticking but never really looked likely to kick on and give the Aussies a scare. When Devine fell to Sutherland the game was soon wrapped up in clinical fashion.
Player of the Match Ash Gardner:
It was really special. When I got out in to the middle I had some pretty clear plans and stuck to my strengths. We always knew we needed a big total here and the wicket was good.
I tried to capitalise and we knew we had a really good total on the board with 327. Soph Devine batted so well so that was really important and will be in this tournament. I am trying to keep my game as simple as possible. I run my runs hard to get into my innings and try to cash in with boundaries. Partnerships are crucial too.
We bat all the way down so we have that freedom and confidence. We have players coming in who can change the game. I love those pressure situations and it’s great when the success comes with it.”
Updated at 12.57 EDT
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James Wallace
Righto, that’s it from us today. We’ll be back with plenty more World Cup and other cricketing action over the coming days and weeks. Thanks for your company, goodbye!
The Captain’s speak:
Alyssa Healy:
While Soph (Devine) was going you never feel comfortable, but credit to the girls for hanging in there.
On Gardner:
She’s just continuing to mature as a cricketer, and it’s really impressive to watch. The fact that the middle order can get runs when we’re in strife is huge as well as the lower order making runs for us. It’s awesome that Sophie (Molineux) can also bowl for us in the Powerplay, Annabel (Sutherland) also found her length out there and got rewarded for it.”
Sophie Devine:
On her hundred:
It’s bittersweet to be fair, I’d throw it all away to make sure we won. I’m just happy with the fight this team showed, a couple of years ago we would have thrown the towel in pretty early, but it’s a hard one, you want to be on the winning team so it’s hard to digest at the moment.”
On the match overall:
We probably missed our line and length a bit on a flat surface.”
Updated at 12.56 EDT
That’s Australia’s 16th straight win against New Zealand. Ash Gardner picks up player of the match for her 115 that saved Australia’s innings after they were reduced to 128-5. Sophie Molineux, Annabel Sutherland and Alana King then picked up eight wickets between them to bowl New Zealand out for 237.
New Zealand’s chase got off to a shocking start with Georgia Plimmer run out without facing a ball and Suzie Bates falling for a duck. Sophie Devine’s 111 kept New Zealand ticking but never really looked likely to kick on and give the Aussies a scare. When Devine fell to Sutherland the game was soon wrapped up in clinical fashion.
Player of the Match Ash Gardner:
It was really special. When I got out in to the middle I had some pretty clear plans and stuck to my strengths. We always knew we needed a big total here and the wicket was good.
I tried to capitalise and we knew we had a really good total on the board with 327. Soph Devine batted so well so that was really important and will be in this tournament. I am trying to keep my game as simple as possible. I run my runs hard to get into my innings and try to cash in with boundaries. Partnerships are crucial too.
We bat all the way down so we have that freedom and confidence. We have players coming in who can change the game. I love those pressure situations and it’s great when the success comes with it.”
Updated at 12.57 EDT
Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs!
Bree Illing is niftily caught behind by Healy off Sophie Molineux and that is that! A clinical performance from Australia, New Zealand came back into it in the second third but then collapsed in a heap. Sophie Devine’s century kept them in the contest after she came to the middle with the White Ferns teetering at 0-2 but the run rate was constantly rising and in the end the big shots came but so did the wickets.
Updated at 12.57 EDT
43rd over: New Zealand 236-9 (Illing 0 Tahuhu 0) Bree Illing… survives the hat-trick ball – just. Play and a miss but the ball misses the edge and passes just wide of the stumps! What an over from Sutherland.
Updated at 12.27 EDT
WICKET! Eden Carson lbw b Sutherland 0 (New Zealand 236-9)
And another! Sutherland has three in the over and is on a hat-trick! Carson is pinned lbw and this is going to all be over in a hurry.
ShareWICKET! Jess Kerr b Sutherland 2 (New Zealand 236-8)
You miss I hit! Sutherland has another!
ShareWICKET! Sophie Devine b Sutherland 111 (New Zealand 235-7)
That’s the big one! Devine has to depart after missing a slog sweep and seeing her bails lit up by Sutherland. Brave knock from Devine you feel that is the game gone now for New Zealand.
Sophie Devine launches an Ash Gardner full toss for SIX to bring up her century! That’s her ninth in ODI cricket and her second in World Cups. She takes off her helmet and gives a subtle wave, can she get her team over the line? It would be remarkable if she could after coming to the crease at 0-2.
SIX MORE! Slog sweep from Devine clears the fence. Is this on?
42nd over: New Zealand 235-6 (Devine 111, J Kerr 2)
92 needed from 48 balls for New Zealand.
Updated at 12.19 EDT
41st over: New Zealand 220-6 (Devine 97, J Kerr 1) Jess Kerr is the new batter, Molineux gets out of the over with the wicket and just three runs from it. Pretty much all on Sophie Devine now.
ShareWICKET! Isabella Gaze c Sutherland b Molineux 28 (New Zealand 218-6)
Just when the White Ferns were starting to hope… Gaze has to go after holing out to Sutherland at long on.
40th over: New Zealand 217-5 (Devine 95, Gaze 28) Issy Gaze is playing a brill little cameo here, she reverse Gardner for four and then wallops two shorter balls through the leg side to make it sixteen off the over and 110 needed from 60 balls, the worm is finally turning for New Zealand, it’s been a strange old innings.
39th over: New Zealand 201-5 (Devine 93, Gaze 15) Sutherland beats Gaze twice in the over, she puts the brakes on to with just two runs off the over. Healy has seen enough from Darcie Brown, Ash Gardner is coming back into the attack.
38th over: New Zealand 199-5 (Devine 93, Gaze 14) Isabella Gaze gets in on the act and it is more boundary pain for Darcie Brown! Fourteen runs off the over and Brown has 0-51 from just four overs. New Zealand have scored 91 runs in the last ten overs, still plenty more to do to get close though, 128 needed from 72 balls.
37th over: New Zealand 185-5 (Devine 91, Gaze 0) Devine cuts hard to backward point and is DROPPED by Sophie Molineux! Decent attempt but having got there she would have wanted it to stick. A let off for Devine, five off the over.
36th over: New Zealand 180-5 (Devine 91, Gaze 0) Devine hits four consecutive fours off Darcie Brown to keep New Zealand alive! Pure class from Devine, off side and leg side peppered as she takes down the bowler in brutal fashion. She’s into the nineties and is keeping her side in the hunt.
35th over: New Zealand 164-5 (Devine 74, Gaze 0) Isabella Gaze is the new batter. Can Devine put the run out from her mind and concentrate on getting New Zealand close?
ShareWICKET! Maddy Green run out (Brown/†Healy) 20 (New Zealand 164-5)
Another run out! Green sets off for a single but Devine is ball watching with her back to her partner, Green gets all the way down and nearly all the way back but Brown’s throw is good enough for Healy to gather and run her out by a few inches. Green is pretty fuming at that, there was a run if Devine was paying attention.
34th over: New Zealand 162-4 (Devine 74, Green 19) Green shows her class with a late cut off King that races for four and then she’s on the front foot, driving back over the bowler’s head for consecutive boundaries. Twelve off the over. The White Ferns need 165 from 96 balls. They need to go some.
33rd over: New Zealand 150-4 (Devine 73, Green 8) Sutherland is back into the attack, Green and Devine rotate strike but can’t find the boundaries they dearly need. Four off the over in total.
32nd over: New Zealand 146-4 (Devine 70, Green 7) Alana King continues, she’s been magnificent so far today. Green chops a single and is nearly run out scampering down the other end, direct hit from Litchfield and she was a goner. A reverse-sweep from Green sees Darcie Brown mis-field on the ‘45 and a four is gifted. New Zealand need all the help they can get.
31st over: New Zealand 138-4 (Devine 68, Green 1) Devine drives Garth for a beautiful boundary through cover and is then DROPPED! A flat pull goes to a diving Gardner in the deep but she can only parry it and it crosses the rope for another four. Maddy Green is the new batter, a poke behind square for a single gets her off the mark.
ShareWICKET! Brooke Halliday c Litchfield b King 28 (New Zealand 127-4)
Halliday comes to life momentarily before perishing in the deep! A slog sweep for six is followed by a pull along the baize for four but King has the last laugh. Halliday goes for another maximum but is caught on the boundary by Phoebe Litchfield. Better to burn out than fade away.
29th over: New Zealand 116-3 (Devine 57, Halliday 18) Devine plays a deft late dab off Garth to pick up four but then lets out a roar of frustration as she cuts the next ball straight to the fielder. New Zealand’s required run rate is above ten an over now.
28th over: New Zealand 108-3 (Devine 51, Halliday 16) Halliday gears up for the big shot but can’t find it, Molineux is on the button and five dots are played out. New Zealand’s worm is turning, the wrong way, just a single off the over.
27th over: New Zealand 107-3 (Devine 51, Halliday 15) Devine goes to fifty off 69 balls. She barely acknowledges it, if New Zealand are going to win this match then she has to move it or lose it.
26th over: New Zealand 103-3 (Devine 49, Halliday 13) Molineux goes for just three off her over. Kim Garth is coming back into the attack. Something’s gotta give…
25th over: New Zealand 100-3 (Devine 47, Halliday 12) Right then! Has Devine decided enough is enough? She trots down and straight drives Gardner for six off the first ball of the over. A lovely strike. Gardner has the last laugh though, just one more single off the over as Australia rattle another one off and we’re at the halfway stage – in terms of overs, no where near that in terms of runs.
New Zealand need to go at over nine and over from here: 227 required from 25 overs.
24th over: New Zealand 93-3 (Devine 40, Halliday 12) New Zealand going nowhere…
23rd over: New Zealand 89-3 (Devine 38, Halliday 10) This game is in danger of passing New Zealand by, Gardner is taken for just four singles off her third over. A few risks need to be taken out in the middle, Devine is well set now and has used up plenty of deliveries, time for some humpty Sophie!
22nd over: New Zealand 85-3 (Devine 36, Halliday 8) Alana King once more, just two singles off it. Run rate rising for New Zealand…
21st over: New Zealand 83-3 (Devine 35, Halliday 7) Gardner is miserly, just three runs off her over including a mix up off the final ball that sees Halliday half way down the track and sent back by her senior partner, she dives for her ground and just makes it.
20th over: New Zealand 80-3 (Devine 34, Halliday 5) Brooke Halliday is the new batter, she starts by planting her front foot down the wicket and bunting King over mid on for four!