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The White Ferns squandered a great opportunity to pull off their summer surprise by defeating Australia in Hamilton on Sunday night.
Australia won the opening match of the tour over their trans-Tasman rivals by six wickets with 12 balls to spare, largely thanks to Ashleigh Gardner’s 73 unbeaten out of 48 deliveries.
However, the hosts seemed keen to take down the favorites until Gardner turned the tide of the game with a series of bold shots, combined with a pair of missed opportunities from a New Zealand side desperate to stop bad form.
“We were certainly in with a shout there, weren’t we?” New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said, reflecting on the loss, which was much closer than the final score indicated.
READ MORE: Burning Questions for White Ferns
After Amy Satterthwaite scored the leading scorer in New Zealand’s 130-6 with 20 overs hitting first, the Australian team, which only ended its run at Managed Isolation on Saturday, had to bounce back from a horror start when Jess Kerr 2 -17 of four overs played a major. part in the visitors falling to 14-3 in the fourth over.
Spinner Frankie McKay picked up Alyssa Healey’s valuable wicket in the first over and then Kerr hit her first ball from the next over to eliminate other starter Beth Mooney, the second starter of the day to record a gold duck after Black Tapas. rookie Finn Allen against Bangladesh.
Kerr grabbed her second wicket in the next when Rachael Haynes brought a short one into Devine’s hands midway to get the tourists in the hot water.
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Sophie Devine of New Zealand cuts while Alyssa Healy of Australia watches during game one of the International T20 series at Seddon Park.
“I think when you get the Australians down three by not many, you really want to put your foot down their throat and I guess that’s why they are such a quality team, they can get out of tough situations and we knew it. Devine said.
“For us, it’s about how we can keep the pressure on them longer. We probably just let our foot wobble a little bit, which is a bit disappointing, but I thought it was a great effort on the field.”
The good start on the ball meant Australia could not be defensive against leg clamp Amelia Kerr and Meg Lanning planted herself in Kerr’s first over, hitting a four and a six to continue.
However, after nearly falling off a dunk effort to Maddy Green from a steepler in the previous over, Lanning faced leg mischief once too often and was caught by Green in regulation fashion.
As the drama seemed to unfold with each lap, Green again spilled another dive effort when Gardner was at 30, the ball slipping agonizingly from his hands as he completed his dive.
Gardner enjoyed the relief, eventually hitting three sixes and four fours to almost single-handedly change the course of the game.
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New Zealand players celebrate Australia’s Alyssa Healy wicket during the first game of the International T20 series in Hamilton.
“One of those sacks that Maddy Green hangs on and the game changes again,” Devine said.
“Certainly there are still a lot of positives to take out of this.”
Gardner said some guidance from her captain Lanning helped her come out of the pressure.
“She is a reassuring influence and she basically told me to keep up my strengths and I tried to do it for as long as possible.
“That’s my natural game, when I walk away from that is probably when I get in trouble.”
Jess Jonassen’s double run in the sixth over gave Australia the early lead after Lanning won the toss and chose to field, eliminating both White Ferns starters.
The left arm spinner got rid of NZ’s most dangerous bat, when captain Devine holed into the middle of the field, before drawing a top edge from Hayley Jensen three balls later.
Veteran left-hander Satterthwaite was given a life at 17 when she skipped a tug from Tayla Vlaeminck that goalie Healey ran up to her right, only for the ball to spill out of her gloves.
Satterthwaite looked like he was going to make Australia pay dearly when accelerating. She had taken 13 four-ball runs from Nicola Carey’s third over, but perished when aiming to add another limit to the last ball, being caught at length.
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Alyssa Healy takes a catch to fire Hayley Jensen.
Jonassen was the visiting bowlers’ choice with 3-26 of her four overs, but the speedy Vlaeminck proved problematic for the hosts as the right wing reached speeds in the mid-range of 120km / h.
As demonstrated when the two sides played six T20 and ODI matches in Brisbane last September, Georgia Wareham’s leg breaks were also difficult for NZ to score as they took 1-18 from their full complement.
New Zealand had won the last T20 between the two teams in Brisbane in September, the last of the three-game series Australia captured 2-1, but lost all three T20 games at home to England earlier this month.
The two teams will meet again in head doubles with Black Caps and Bangladesh at Napier on Tuesday and Auckland on Thursday, before playing a three-game ODI series at Mount Maunganui.
New Zealand 130-6 (A Satterthwaite 40; J Jonassen 3-26) lost to Australia 133-4 (A Gardner 73rd, J Kerr 2-17) for six wickets.
