- Australia are in excellent form in the race for places in the semi-finals
- Now stand as the only undefeated team in their group
A superbly disciplined bowling performance has earned Australia a second successive victory in the Women’s T20 World Cup, a 60-run victory over New Zealand that puts the country in pole position for a place in the semi-finals.
The defending champions are now the only undefeated team in Group A and can all but secure their passage by beating Pakistan in Dubai on Friday (1am AEDT on Saturday).
Australia were ultimately disappointed with a score of 8-148, but that was more than enough against a New Zealand team they have now beaten ten times in a row.
After being 1-79 at the halfway mark, Australia scored 69 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the second 10 overs. Beth Mooney top-scored and followed her 43 in the opening win over Sri Lanka with a 32-ball 40, but the middle and lower orders folded.
“We could have been smarter with the bat in the end, but we came out really well with the ball and I’m really happy with that,” said skipper Alyssa Healy.
“Megan Schutt was great, but I thought the whole offense tonight was unbelievable.”
Just like against Sri Lanka, Schutt set the tone by taking a wicket in the third over, bowling Georgia Plimmer (4).
That made her the sole record holder for most wickets in T20 World Cups with 44.
Aussie Megan Schutt (left) celebrates one of her wickets as she took a whopping three scalps for just three runs against New Zealand
The ‘amazing’ effort makes Schutt (pictured) the record holder for T20 World Cup wickets
She returned mid-innings to claim her 45th, the dangerous Amelia Kerr (29 off 31), before wrapping up the match in the final over to end the innings with 3-3 off 20 balls and 6-15 in the tournament so far.
When Kerr departed, the Kiwis were already chasing 10 over, an almost impossible task against Australia’s attack on a slow, used track.
Sophie Molineux (2-15) had just accounted for Suzie Bates (20 off 27), and a repeat of skipper Sophie Devine’s unbeaten 57 off 36 balls in their win against India was New Zealand’s last hope.
But she never got going as wickets fell at the other end, including two in two balls for Annabel Sutherland (3-21). The Kiwis’ last nine wickets fell for 34 runs, with Devine ninth after making seven from 15, while New Zealand were dismissed for just 88.
“When we were bowling, we strayed a little too far from the stumps,” Devine said. ‘We were a bit sloppy on the field. We have to take some bolder shots with the bat. We had to get a good start and we let the run rate increase too much.’
Australian skipper Alyssa Healy (pictured) described the team’s bowling attack as ‘incredible’ after they restricted the Kiwis to just 88 runs
Schutt won the Player of the Match award for her excellent bowling
Australia, who swapped Grace Harris for Darcie Brown, won the toss and elected to bat. Healy, who had survived two early reviews, hit two fours in the third and her team was operational. After 31 balls it was 0-41.
But a series of hitters got in and then went out. Healy skied Rosemary Mair for 26 off 20 balls, Mooney was caught at mid-on and Ellyse Perry, dropped on four, misread Kerr’s googly to be bowled for 30 off 24 balls.
Kerr followed by bowling Harris in the same manner as the next ball, putting a smile back on her face after her brilliant catch to dismiss Phoebe Litchfield, who was controversially judged to have been grounded on TV replay.
After that, Australia, in search of quick runs, lost wickets quickly. The middle order is packed with all-rounders, but none reached double figures as Kerr (4-26), Brooke Halliday (2-16) and Mair (2-22) took off.
But while the score may not have been the 160-170 that seemed likely at one point, it was the highest of the six matches played in Sharjah so far and proved more than enough.
