Sharjah : Six-time champions Australia continued its dominance over New Zealand with an emphatic 60-run victory in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup on Tuesday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Australia's imposing performance allowed them to extend its streak to its 13th consecutive win in the Women's T20 World Cup. No other team has managed to go past seven on the trot.
While defending a 149-run target, the white ferns lost Georgia Plimmer early in the chase. Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr forged a 47-run partnership to pull New Zealand back into the chase against a testing spell against the defending champions.
However, once Sophie Molineux removed Bates, the asking rate kept rising, and New Zealand's backs went against the wall.
Megan Schutt dismissed Amelia Kerr, struck in the middle and finally at the tail end to cap off an impressive display while maintaining her economical nature.
Leg spinner Georgia Wareham got into the thick of the action and removed Brooke Halliday. Annabel Sutherland took centre stage and cleaned up Maddy Green (1) and then had Isabella Gaze (0) setting up an opportunity for a hat-trick, which was to no avail.
The New Zealand batters kept falling like a house of cards and eventually succumbed to a 60-run defeat.
Earlier in the innings, the defending champions, Australia, won the toss and opted to bat. Alyssa Healy shined in the early overs and raced to 26 off 20 deliveries.
Beth Mooney led the charge with the dynamic Ellyse Perry and stitched up a 45-run partnership. Amelia Kerr got into the action, broke the stand and left Australia speechless with her figures of 4/26. As wickets kept falling, Australia managed to crawl their way to 148/8.
Brief Score: Australia 148/8 (Beth Mooney 40, Ellyse Perry 30; Amelia Kerr 4-26) vs New Zealand 88 (Amelia Kerr 29, Suzie Bates 20; Megan Schutt 3-3).