Australia Beat New Zealand By Two Wickets In Rose Bowl Opener

Australia beat New Zealand by two wickets at North Sydney Oval on Sunday. They chased 163 with seven balls to spare and lead the three-match Rose Bowl T20I series 1-0. Kim Garth, batting at number 10, hit the winning boundary. She had faced eight balls without scoring before it. Australia had been 86 for 1 in the ninth over. They finished 165 for 8.

New Zealand made 162 for 2 after Australia chose to bowl. Georgia Plimmer carried that innings with a career-best 85 not out from 68 balls. Maddy Green finished on 56 from 37. Their unbroken third-wicket stand was worth 127 from 80 balls, and Plimmer took the player of the match award on the losing side.

Plimmer and Green add 127

New Zealand were 35 for 2 in the seventh over. Flora Devonshire went for 1, bowled by Garth in the third. Melie Kerr fell for 9, caught by Lucy Hamilton off Annabel Sutherland. Nothing worked after that. Plimmer struck ten fours and a six, and ABC News noted it was only her fourth half-century in 54 T20 internationals.

Australia used seven bowlers and none took more than one wicket. Sophie Molineux, captaining the side, conceded 25 from her four overs. Georgia Wareham returned the same figure. Garth and Sutherland shared the two wickets that fell.

Perry's 27-ball fifty

Georgia Voll was lbw to Bree Illing in the first over without scoring. Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry then put on 86. Mooney made 38 from 25 balls. Perry reached her fifty from 27 balls and fell for 52 from 30, caught on the boundary by Izzy Sharp off Jess Kerr. That made it 102 for 3 after 10.2 overs, with 61 needed from 58 balls.

Mooney had already gone by then, run out by Flora Devonshire. That was the dismissal the innings turned on.

• Ellyse Perry 52 from 30 balls
• Beth Mooney 38 from 25 balls
• Ashleigh Gardner 23 from 17 balls
• Sophie Molineux 11 from 5 balls

Seven wickets for 79

From 86 for 1 Australia lost seven wickets for 79 runs. Jess Kerr took three of them and finished with 3 for 25. Gardner went lbw on review for 23. Sutherland was caught at long-on by Sharp for 9. Two run-outs filled the gaps, the second of them accounting for Nicola Carey after a relay between Nensi Patel and Melie Kerr.

Molineux hit 11 from 5 balls before Rosemary Mair bowled her in the 17th over. That left Australia 159 for 8 with four runs still needed and Tahlia McGrath at the other end. Garth's boundary finished it in the 19th.

Tuesday and Thursday to come

AAP put this as Australia's 11th consecutive T20 international win. The same report had New Zealand losing six of their past nine. The White Ferns are also rebuilding a senior core, with Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu all retired from the side.

Perry was not satisfied afterwards. "There's probably an element of not being clinical tonight," she said, pointing to how little time several Australian batters have spent in the middle recently.

The second and third matches of the series are at North Sydney Oval on Tuesday and Thursday. New Zealand lost two wickets across twenty overs and still lost the match. Plimmer and Green were together for the last 13.2 overs and the total stopped at 162.