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Defending champions Australia are on a roll as they bulldozed New Zealand to a paltry 88 to clinch a comprehensive 60-run win in their Women's T20 World Cup 2024 encounter at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 8.
Australia remain unbeaten in Women's T20 World Cup
This victory solidified Australia's position at the top of Group A, strengthening their chances of reaching the knockout stages for the fourth consecutive time. Megan Schutt, with figures of 3/3 in 4 overs, was instrumental in Australia's win and was awarded the Player of the Match.
Meanwhile, India's women's team faces a challenging situation following Australia's victory. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side had a rocky start to the tournament, losing to New Zealand by 58 runs. However, they bounced back with a six-wicket win over Pakistan. India will now focus on improving their net run rate in the match against Sri Lanka and will need a crucial victory against Australia on October 13 to stay in contention.
New Zealand faced a challenging target of 149 runs in their chase against Australia. Megan Schutt, the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Women's T20 World Cup, dismissed Georgia Plimmer early on. Amelia Kerr and Suzie Bates formed a partnership, but New Zealand's batting collapsed, falling from 54/1 to 60/6. New Zealand then failed to stand the test of time and were eventually bundled out to 88 runs.
Australia had earlier posted a competitive score of 148/6 against New Zealand, the highest total at the venue so far. Despite a strong start, Australia's batting struggled in the middle overs, with Amelia Kerr's spin bowling proving to be a significant challenge. Kerr's impressive figures of 4/26 played a crucial role in limiting Australia's total.
Amelia Kerr's exploits go in vain
Rosemary Mair's disciplined bowling and Brook Halliday's surprising spell of 2/16 from two overs helped restrict Australia's momentum in the death overs. Halliday's unorthodox approach, including full-tosses and slower deliveries, disrupted Australia's rhythm. The challenging pitch made run-scoring difficult, and Australia's total of 148 proved to be a demanding target for New Zealand. Alyssa Healy reached a significant milestone, becoming the eighth batter to score 3,000 T20I runs. Despite her strike rate being among the best, Healy's 26 runs were not enough to propel Australia to a big total. Beth Mooney led the Australian batting with a 32-ball 40, while Ellyse Perry contributed 30 runs from 24 balls.
