The Australian women’s cricket team edged closer to matching the world-record feat of the national men’s side with a convincing seven-wicket win over New Zealand at Allan Border Field on Saturday.
The Aussies made it 19 straight ODI wins in taking a 1-0 Rose Bowl series lead over their trans-Tasman rivals.
They are now just two wins shy of the world record of 21 successive ODI victories set by the Australian men’s team 17 years ago.
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The hosts, who gave teenager Annabel Sutherland her ODI debut, were rarely troubled on Saturday after winning the toss and sending New Zealand into bat.
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The visitors scrapped their way to 180 but it was never going to be enough, with Australian captain Meg Lanning guiding her team home with an unbeaten knock of 62.
Lanning fittingly scored the winning runs in the 34th over with a huge six.
KIWIS IN A SPIN
Australia’s spin trio of Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen and Sophie Molineux put the squeeze on the White Ferns with a remarkable display of accurate bowling.
In a combined total of 29.1 overs, the three spinners each took two wickets, conceded only 80 runs and delivered 125 dot balls.
And leg-spinner Wareham, who finished with 2-23 off 10 overs, could have had a third wicket had she not dropped a tough caught and bowled chance offered by White Ferns’ top-scorer Maddy Green (35).
“I think it’s a plan for all of our bowlers to build pressure through that middle period, and I though Soph did a really good job, same with ‘JJ’, and ‘Schutter’ (pace bowler Megan Schutt) as well through the start did really well in building that pressure,†Wareham said.
RACHAEL’S RECORD
Vice-captain Rachael Haynes has now scored more ODI runs at Allan Border Field than any other Australian batter after another solid innings.
Moved up to open Australia’s innings, Haynes scored 44 off 62 balls to take her total runs at the Brisbane venue to 311 from five knocks.
Haynes’ second-wicket partnership of 65 runs with Australian captain Meg Lanning was the building block of the hosts’ dominant batting display.
“It’s a pretty nice ground to bat at,†Haynes said. “You generally get value for your shots. I probably threw it away a little bit today but I guess it’s a nice record to have.â€
ROOKIE’S ROUGH RIDE
It was a tough initiation for 18-year-old ODI debutant Annabel Sutherland, the daughter of former Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland.
Replacing the injured Delissa Kimmince in the Australian team that won the preceding T20 series 2-1, all-rounder Sutherland was handed new ball duties with Megan Schutt.
With her father watching from the stands, Sutherland went for eight runs in her first over as White Ferns opener Natalie Dodd went on the attack.
Sutherland continued to struggle, but Schutt’s dismissal of Dodd in the fifth over aided the rookie as she was able to target the less aggressive batting pair of Suzie Bates and Amy Satterthwaite.
The seamer was rewarded for her perseverance when she dismissed Satterthwaite by drawing an edge that flew to first slip, where captain Meg Lanning took a smart catch.
Despite an expensive five-over spell of 1-33, Sutherland’s bowling impressed the Kiwis.
“She got it in good areas and was tough to face,†Bates said of Sutherland’s bowling.