Key events
2nd over: New Zealand 4-0 (Bates 1, James 2) And just as customarily, we see Kim Garth opening the bowling from the other end, with James on strike. The first ball of Garth’s over is a beauty, but it narrowly misses everything and flies through to Mooney at keeper. The statisticians have confirmed that if NZ chase this down, it will be the second highest successful chase in women’s ODI history, so that highlights the huge task that the White Ferns have ahead of them. James picks up two runs from a streaky edge down to third to get off the mark and looks a little more settled with that out of the way.
1st over: New Zealand 2-0 (Bates 1, James 0) Megan Schutt takes the new ball for Australia, as she customarily does. Bates starts defensively, seeing out a couple of dots. On the fourth ball of the over, she steps away from her stumps and gives herself some room and manages to flick the ball away for a single to give James the strike. James is watchful early as well, wary of Schutt’s full length.
Players are back on the field and we’re ready to get the NZ batting innings underway!
Just having a little check in on the weather after the first ODI was rained out and the second was rain affected with DLS coming into play in the second innings. But things are still looking fine in windy Wellington, it’s currently 19 degrees and Met Service in NZ is telling me there’s a 0% chance of rain.
Megan Maurice
Hello everyone, I hope you’ve enjoyed the first innings today. It’s an interesting one – as James noted, it’s the first time Australia have been bowled out batting first in an ODI in five years, so that sounds like it would be quite favourable for New Zealand, but Australia have also put a big total on the board and it will be a tough chase.
New Zealand didn’t fill me with confidence with the way they went about their chase in the second ODI a couple of days ago, so they’ll need to show a lot more intent and play some big shots from the outset if they want to have a chance of chasing this down. But with players like Bates, Devine and Kerr, it’s certainly a possibility. I really liked the looked of Bella James at the top of the order the other day too, so if she can stay out in the middle a bit longer today, that could go a long way towards setting them up for success.
It should be a fascinating innings coming up, so stay with me and we’ll power through together!
James Wallace
After a hefty partnership between Healy and Litchfield at the top of the order the Kiwis hit back with four quick wickets. Ash Gardner and Annabel Sutherland then rebuilt for Australia with the former finding the boundary with regularity before falling with five overs to go.
New Zealand need to score 291 runs to level the series 1-1.
That’s me done. Megan Maurice will be along very shortly to guide you through the chase. Bye!
Australia all out for 290!
Rosemary Mair picks up Kim Garth for her third wicket and that’s it for the Aussies! They are bowled out batting first in an ODI for the first time in five years – 2019 the last time they surrendered some overs in their first dig.
WICKET! Schutt run out (Green) 2 (Australia 288-9)
Direct hit and gone! Schutt tries to steal a single to mid on but Maddy Green swoops and throws down the stumps with the batter inches short!
48th over: Australia 288-8 (Schutt 4, Garth 8) Eden Carson finishes her spell with a thrifty over, just two singles taken off it. She closes her stint with 0-53 off her ten, she’s held up her end very well. Two overs to go.
47th over: Australia 286-8 (Schutt 3, Garth 7) Four runs off Devine’s ninth over, New Zealand have pegged Australia back but this target is still going to be a lofty one. In fact, I think it might already require the second biggest Women’s ODI chase in history.
46th over: Australia 282-8 (Schutt 2, Garth 6) Six runs taken off Eden Carson as Australia target 300. Here comes Sophie Devine to try and stop them.
45th over: Australia 275-8 (Schutt 0, Garth 1) Kerr finishes with 4-54 off her ten overs. Brilliant bowling. Megan Schutt and Kim Garth the new batters at the crease with five overs left.
WICKET! King lbw b Kerr 9 (Australia 270-8)
Kerr takes her second of the over and goes to 99 ODI wickets! King goes back and is pinned stone dead in front of her stumps.
WICKET! Gardner b Kerr 74 (Australia 274-7)
Kerr strikes in her final over to pick up Gardner! The wrong’un does the business and Gardner’s excellent innings comes to a close just as she was taking the game out of New Zealand’s reach.
44th over: Australia 269-6 (Gardner 70, King 8) Gardner is ticking now, Mair tries a slower ball and it is seen and spanked over cover for four. The all-rounder drives down the ground for two more before flicking off her pads and driving a full toss down the ground for a flurry of boundaries. 21 runs and four boundaries off the over, trouble in town for the Kiwis!
43rd over: Australia 248-6 (Gardner 52, King 7) Fifty for Ash Gardner! She gets there in some style by pulling Penfold over square for SIX. Saw the short ball early and climbed into it. Twelve runs in total off the over, this pair like to find the boundary and could be very dangerous for New Zealand heading into the final overs.
42nd over: Australia 236-6 (Gardner 41, King 6) A lot resting on Ash Gardner’s shoulders now as the set batter. Alana King joins her in the middle and carves away for four off Devine.
WICKET! McGrath c Kerr b Devine 10 (Australia 230-6)
Gone! Devine picks up her second wicket and McGrath’s slightly torturous innings of ten runs off 33 balls comes to an end.
41st over: Australia 230-5 (Gardner 41, McGrath 10) Wonderful over from Kerr, she could have picked up both Gardner and McGrath with false shots, Gardner lofts for two off the final ball in a shot of pure frustration.
40th over: Australia 227-5 (Gardner 39, McGrath 9) Carson gets in and out for the cost of just three runs. Ten overs to go. Amelia Kerr is coming on for her penultimate over.
39th over: Australia 224-5 (Gardner 38, McGrath 7) Rosemary Mair has 2-29 and three overs up her sleeve as she comes back for the first of them. Gardner struggles to time the ball off a length and very nearly spoons a catch to Devine at mid-off. Six off the over, Australia aren’t pulling out of sight, New Zealand would love to get a few more and get into the lower order and tail of King, Garth, Schutt and Brown.
38th over: Australia 218-5 (Gardner 32, McGrath 7) Carson rattles through a quick over, a cheap one. Just a Gardner single off it.
37th over: Australia 217-5 (Gardner 31, McGrath 7) Ash Gardner hits Australia’s first boundary in nearly half an hour, a drive down the ground off Penfold breaks the shackles and a pull behind square makes it two boundaries in a row. McGrath looks positively rusty in comparison.
36th over: Australia 208-5 (Gardner 22, McGrath 7) Devine dots up. Gardner comes down for a word with the increasingly frustrated McGrath. The batter is finding it hard to lay a bat on the pace off delivery and cuts a disconsolate figure as the maiden is completed.
35th over: Australia 208-5 (Gardner 22, McGrath 7) Penfold is given the nod, that’s the aggressive option taken by Devine and New Zealand. The bowler still hasn’t found the accuracy and penetration of her last game but the Aussies are struggling to find the boundary too. Six off the over. 15 overs left for Australia and five wickets to take for New Zealand.
34th over: Australia 202-5 (Gardner 21, McGrath 3) Devine uses all her wiles, bowling with a split fingered seam and mixing up her pace. Just two singles off her latest.
33rd over: Australia 200-5 (Gardner 20, McGrath 2) Three singles off Kerr’s 8th over see Australia bring up their 200.
32nd over: Australia 197-5 (Gardner 18, McGrath 1) Tahlia McGrath joins Ash Gardner. Devine gives away five wides down the leg side for the second time in the over, Isabella Gaze has struggled stood up to the stumps today and New Zealand have gifted 31 extras and counting. That’s waaaay too many.
WICKET! Sutherland c & b Devine 42 (Australia 189-5)
Devine clings on and manages to get rid of Sutherland with beauty of a caught and bowled. Devine took some pace off and the ball stopped in the surface a little, Sutherland went with hard hands and then tried to stop on the shot. New Zealand needed that!
31st over: Australia 185-4 (Sutherland 42, Gardner 17) Sutherland starts to look dangerous as she smashes Kerr for two fours in the over. The fifty partnership comes up off 53 balls, this pair have consolidated well. Gah! Kerr spears five wides past the helpless keeper. New Zealand in need-a-wicket-territory once more.
30th over: Australia 171-4 (Sutherland 33, Gardner 17) Sophie Devine brings herself on and sneaks in and out with a cheap over of two runs.
29th over: Australia 169-4 (Sutherland 32, Gardner 16) More singles and strike rotation, Australia consolidating after their wobble. They can still target a big score in the back ten with wickets in hand.
28th over: Australia 164-4 (Sutherland 30, Gardner 14) Sutherland is so hard to bowl too. Carson is a tad short and she’s lapped away to fine leg, the next ball is a tad too full and is driven past point for four. The next is worked away for three more and before you know it a tidy over has gone for ten runs.
27th over: Australia 154-4 (Sutherland 21, Gardner 13) Penfold returns, the game in something of a holding pattern as both sides grapple for supremacy.
26th over: Australia 148-4 (Sutherland 19, Gardner 10) Carson replaces Mair and apart from a gorgeous cover drive from Sutherland it is a decent over, five dots keeping the woman in form tied down to some extent.
25th over: Australia 144-4 (Sutherland 15, Gardner 10) That’ll make Ash Gardner feel better, Kerr gives too much flight and a front foot drive whistles to the fence at extra cover.
24th over: Australia 138-4 (Sutherland 14, Gardner 5) Annabel Sutherland is in some rare form, she plays a ridiculously good straight drive down the ground for four off Mair. The bowler does well to restrict for the rest of the over, Ash Gardner hasn’t been at her freewheeling best with the bat of late and she struggles to pierce the infield.
23rd over: Australia 132-4 (Sutherland 9, Gardner 4) Kerr hops and skips in, she’s bowling with fizz and tying the Aussie batters down as we approach the halfway stage in the innings. The first hour was all Australia, the second has belonged to New Zealand.
22nd over: Australia 127-4 (Sutherland 8, Gardner 0) Ash Gardner blocks out her first ball and the final one of a successful over by Mair. Australia have lost four quick wickets and need to consolidate. Amelia Kerr and Rosemary Mair have other ideas. Game on!
WICKET! Mooney c Halliday b Mair 2 (Australia 126-4)
Another one gone! Mooney flicks a leading edge to short cover where Halliday swallows the catch. The visitors in a bit of strife now as the momentum has definitely swung.
21st over: Australia 126-3 (Mooney 2, Sutherland 7) Can Kerr pocket another one and really turn the screw for New Zealand? Close! More turn from a good length outside off and Sutherland edges just wide of Devine in at slip. Absorbing cricket as the White Ferns hit back.
20th over: Australia 122-3 (Mooney 1, Sutherland 4) Two new batters at the crease for Australia. Mair tries to bowl the magic ball but Sutherland pings the resulting leg stump half volley for four. Don’t bowl there!
Here comes Annabel Sutherland