- Updates from the second match at Allan Border Field
- Any thoughts? Email or tweet @collinsadam
Alyssa Healy, what a gem. This time around, she has the presence of mind to leap on a deflection from the back of Down’s bat when missing a sweep, taking the chance easily before whipping the bails off in the same motion. In the end, it was given out caught behind so it didn’t matter whether her bat was back or not.
14th over: New Zealand 95-5 (Down 12, Martin 1) A productive over for Down, now the senior partner, still taking 10 off Kimmince despite losing Bates at the beginning of the set, an edge spilling away for four when looking to put the foot down.
There are three big New Zealand wickets and Australia now have all of them, Bates - out 22 from 28 balls - tried to get resourceful jumping across her stumps but failed to make the contact she needed, her leading edge ending up at mid-off instead.
13th over: New Zealand 81-4 (Bates 22, Down 3) A handy over at a handy time from Nic Carey, into the attack with her medium pace and giving up just four singles.
12th over: New Zealand 81-4 (Bates 20, Down 1) Down of the mark first ball. Bates is down the other end on 20 from 24 balls. As I mentioned earlier, she’s short of her fluent best at the moment but she’s still there.
Bowled! Jensen swept and missed, the leggie Wareham has a second.
11th over: New Zealand 73-3 (Bates 18, Jensen 2) Five singles off Molineux , albeit without complete control from the new batter Jensen. Both teams would probably be happy with that outcome at this stage. 140 would be a good effort for the Kiwis.
10th over: New Zealand 68-3 (Bates 15, Jensen 0) Here’s that defining angle.
Is there anything behind the line?
Third umpire says no! #AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/TbH3gTUtRF
She has! It’s taken a good three minutes before the third umpire gets the angle he needs to show that Satterthwaite doesn’t have a spike behind the line; as close as it comes. But, a good decision... in the end. It played out after the left-hander missed a swipe through midwicket, dragging her back foot in the process.
HAS HEALY STUMPED SATTERTHWAITE? Upstairs we go to find out.
9th over: New Zealand 59-2 (Bates 15, Satterthwaite 23) Just when New Zealand needed to shift up a gear they have done precisely that, Bates benefitting from a misfield at deep midwicket to collect one boundary off Schutt then Satterthwaite beating short fine leg to bank another. All up, 12 from the over - their best yet.
8th over: New Zealand 47-2 (Bates 9, Satterthwaite 17) Kimmince into the attack for the first time today and the medium-pacer is right onto her line and length, denying either player a chance to attack the rope, having to settle with five singles instead.
7th over: New Zealand 42-2 (Bates 6, Satterthwaite 15) Three boundaries in three overs for Satterthwaite, this the best so far, dancing at Gardner and again popping it over mid-on with a minimum of fuss. She’s a very good player with a fine record.
6th over: New Zealand 36-2 (Bates 6, Satterthwaite 9) Good again from Satterthwaite, down the track at Molineux, lifting the spinner over mid-on for four. Five overs of spin in the power play, New Zealand at a run a ball and losing two wickets. But that puts the home side ahead with Devine one of those dismissed.
5th over: New Zealand 30-2 (Bates 4, Satterthwaite 5) Big turn from the outset for Gardner with her off-spin from around the wicket to Satterthwaite. The all-rounder gives it a big rip, giving away just one single from the first five balls. But the left-hander holds her nerve, picking the final ball up and over extra cover for four.
4th over: New Zealand 25-2 (Bates 4, Satterthwaite 1) The good news for the Kiwis is that the new player to the crease is one of their most accomplished and experienced, former captain Amy Satterthwaite. She was caught behind brilliantly by Healy when reverse sweeping yesterday, a highlight of a fine performance by the Australian stumper. It’s that shot she misses to finish Jonassen’s over here too, albeit past Healy’s gloves this time, running away for four byes.
Uh oh. New Zealand are in the hole now, the 50-gamer Green run out by Wareham from fine leg, running to the danger end and caught short with her big dive when returning for a third run. Australia can start their squeeze nice and early.
3rd over: New Zealand 16-1 (Green 7, Bates 1) Bates, who struggled for runs in the T20 World Cup earlier this year and for fluency yesterday in her 38-balls in the middle, gets one down the ground to get off the mark. Oooh, Green is beaten by a beauty to finish by Molineux from around the wicket, beating both the edge and the off-stump by a matter of centimetres. A superb start from the spinner.
That’s a huge wicket for Molineux with her first ball of the day, winning a return catch from the leading edge of Devine, making no mistake in her follow-through. The New Zealand skpper, and most destructive player, is gutted with that.
2nd over: New Zealand 16-0 (Devine 9, Green 7) Schutt’s first ball drifts onto the pads of Devine, her former Big Bash teamname flicking her away for four. The New Zealander’s move to the Perth Scorchers for the upcoming season was one of a number of big squad changes in the lead up to the fresh WBBL season, the Australian skipper Meg Lanning heading back to the Stars from Perth and Beth Mooney heading west from Brisbane. Green ensures the pricey over is bookended with boundaries, opening the face to steer a second four behind point. Nice shot.
1st over: New Zealand 5-0 (Devine 3, Green 2) Starting in singles, five of them, both New Zealand openers happy to play themselves in rather than taking on the probing tweaker. Interesting that she was given the first over ahead ofthe in-form Schutt, but it’ll be the gun seamer - with 93 wickets at 14.9 in T20s - bowling the next over.
The players are on the field. Maddy Green, playing her 50th T20 International, is opening alongside her superstar skipper, Sophie Devine. Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen has the ball in her hand to send down the first over of the game. PLAY!
I mentioned before that it is the same pitch as yesterday. That shouldn’t be a huge factor at the start of a season after just one T20, but it was a touch tacky yesterday when pace was off the ball, so that might be a factor. Looks pretty good to me.
New Zealand have won the toss and will bat first.#AUSvNZpic.twitter.com/81rKuNKkXN
“The best thing about yesterday was being out there again,” says Megan Schutt, who took 4/23 yesterday - all those wickets coming at the death when deploying wide range of slower balls. We’re lucky to have the South Australian back on board as a columnist in our pages - well worth a read whenever she puts pen to paper.
Related: Surreal and a little bit scary: cricket returns to Australia in the Covid era | Megan Schutt
Around the grounds. Isn’t it lovely that we have a bit of cricket going on in different corners of the world at the moment after having to settle for a one match here or there since July? Especially women’s cricket, which was all-but absent until last week when England started their five-game series against the West Indies, wrapping that up in straight sets yesterday with another easy win, this time courtesy of Nat Sciver who crunched 82 of the best from 61 deliveries.
Related: Nat Sciver's barrage helps England sink West Indies and clinch T20 series
They are unchanged from the team that fell 17-runs short yesterday.
New Zealand: Sophie Devine (c), Maddy Green, Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite, Katey Martin (wk), Amelia Kerr, Hayley Jensen, Lauren Down, Katie Perkins, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu.
Welcome to the second T20 between Australia’s women and New Zealand at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. We don’t see matches on consecutive days at international level too often these days, but this is what we are enjoying to begin this three-game series after the hosts won by 17 runs yesterday at the same surface.
After slumping to 82/5 in the 14th over, Meg Lanning’s side powered to the line thanks to Ash Gardner, who cleared the midwicket rope on three occasions on the way to 61 from 41 balls, enabling them to set the White Ferns 139. They were in striking distance at a similar time of their chase, but Megan Schutt’s four wickets in two overs at the death ensured that they would end up falling well short with 121-7.
Continue reading...