New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: “I thought we were really poor in all facets of the game. I thought Australia batted particularly well. I thought Lea Tahuhu was great with the ball. Amelia Kerr was outstanding. But 170 was always going to be a tough chase and the way we went about it losing early wickets was always going to be hard work. But really disappointing is the only way to sum it up. It’s a really important thing to find the positives in this game because it’s such a quick turnaround. So for us to be able to take wickets and be able to bowl them out pretty much was really pleasing. I certainly think you need to figure out what you can from the wicket and the conditions but then move forward. It probably played a little lower and slower than we were expecting but it’s all part of the game learning to adapt.”
Australia captain Meg Lanning: “We came into today knowing it was going to be a bit of a challenge in the conditions. We weren’t really sure what we were going to get, but to be able to adapt really quickly, I thought Healy up front and Perry was incredible to put New Zealand under pressure. And then with the ball, early wickets always make a difference, especially when it’s Bates and Devine knowing how dangerous they are. I was disappointed to get out knowing I was just getting going and the conditions were what they were. [On Gardner] She’s been bowling really well for a while now and she’s become a very reliable bowler for me to go to in any conditions. She’s worked really hard to get to this point so it’s great that she’s getting some rewards.”
The player of the match is Ashleigh Gardner: “I think that was set up by our batters and gave us a little bit of flexibility and freedom with the ball. I was just lucky enough to come and take those wickets at the end. I’ve worked a lot on my wrist position to get up and over the ball to try to turn it. But it’s more about the length. Some were bouncing today and some weren’t so keeping the stumps in play also kept lbw in the picture. For the whole bowling unit, you need to bowl that knee roll length because some were staying up and some were shooting low so you just wanted to keep the stumps in play.”
AUS WMN vs NZ WMN Highlights today, Saturday 11-10-2023. 3rd Match (N), Group A, Boland Park, Paarl, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.
Toss: New Zealand Women, elected to field first.
Australia Women team: 1 Alyssa Healy (wk), 2 Beth Mooney, 3 Meg Lanning (capt.), 4 Ashleigh Gardner, 5 Elysse Perry, 6 Tahlia McGrath, 7 Grace Harris, 8 Jess Jonassen, 9 Alana King, 10 Megan Schutt, 11 Darcie Brown.
New Zealand Women team: 1 Sophie Devine (capt.), 2 Suzie Bates, 3 Bernadine Bezuidenhout (wk), 4 Amelia Kerr, 5 Maddy Green, 6 Hannah Rowe, 7 Hayley Jensen, 8 Lea Tahuhu, 9 Jess Kerr, 10 Eden Carson, 11 Fran Jonas.
Head to Head In T20I’s: 46
Australia Women Won: 25
New Zealand Women Won: 21
Australia Women T20I Rankings: 1st
New Zealand Women T20I Rankings: 3rd
Form guide
(last five completed T20I’s, most recent first)
Australia Women WWWWW
New Zealand Women LLLLT
Match Timings: 5:00 PM GMT | 7:00 PM Local
Umpires – Nimali Perera, Sue Redfern
TV Umpire – Jacqueline Williams
Match Referee – Michell Pereira
Reserve Umpire – Anna Harris
Match number – WT20I no. 1357
