Ashleigh Gardner seals series win after Amelia Kerr sends Australia into a spin

After a dramatic collapse with the bat in the second T20I in Mackay, Ashleigh Gardner recovered well from a concussion scare to take three wickets and help Australia win an untidy and unimpressive series against New Zealand.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Australia lost 7 for 28 and was bowled out for 142. The world champions were bowled out for only the second time in their past 55 Twenty20 Internationals as New Zealand legspinner Amelia Kerr put them through a spell, taking a career-best 4 for 20. Captain Alyssa Healy had given her team a commanding position.

It appeared as though there would be plenty of runs on the surface, but Healy’s 38 off 25 was the best innings of the game and the match’s highlight. Ellyse Perry scored a crucial 34 from 33, but Australia’s decline began when she was dismissed for an odd run-out.

When Australia’s bowlers squeezed, New Zealand paid the price for their cautious pursuit. Despite leading her team to 34 points without a loss during the powerplay, Suzie Bates was unable to continue after making another start and scored 34 runs-a-ball. Despite some poor fielding from Australia, Gardner and Annabel Sutherland went to work, taking 4 for 34 off eight overs between them in the middle and death phases to finish the game.

Healy’s explosive beginning

Healy outperformed the others on a pitch where just five batters were able to hit for a rate of more than 120. In the opening Twenty20 International, Molly Penfold posed the most threat, but Healy removed her from the game in the opening over. Australia got 12 from the opening over as she thumped her down the ground on the up.

She then unleashed a beautiful front-foot pull shot over midwicket off the next delivery. After that, she sliced Lea Tahuhu over point and fined Eden Carson for sweeping laps.

As Australia reached 48 for 1 in the powerplay, she saved her finest stroke for Kerr, reverse-sweeping her from middle stump through cover point. Perry, however, was as frigid as ice and Healy was getting heated. Perry had trouble with timing following the early loss to Beth Mooney, who was playing in her 100th Twenty20 international, who was bowled by Fran Jonas attempting to pull.

In her first 16, she faced eight dot balls, and at one time, she was 13 out of 18. She had trouble even feeding the strike to Healy. Healy stumbled while attempting to maintain contact with Carson, holing out for 38 from 25. However, it would prove to be a priceless addition.

Amelia Kerr starts a spin cycle in Australia

Perry’s departure, symbolic of Australia’s decline, came just as she was beginning to establish her stride. She struck Kerr on the pad when attempting to sweep him. High over her head, the ball ricocheted off her pad. Perry, not sure where it had disappeared, decided to go for a strange run. Izzy Gaze, the wicketkeeper, had already removed the bails to run her out for 34 off 33 by the time she knew it had landed behind her. Not long afterward, Australia had a catastrophic collapse such as this all-conquering team had never experienced before.

For just the second time since the T20 World Cup 2020, they were dismissed in less than 20 overs. Phoebe Litchfield lost her leg stump when she charged at Brooke Halliday’s wrong-footed medium pacers. Kerr then manoeuvred her way through the list.

Gardner and Tahlia McGrath were taken down by two outstanding miscreants via the gate. Megan Schutt was finished all the way by a faster delivery, while Sophie Molineux was defeated in midair and stumped a mile ahead of her. Kerr finished with four wickets in twenty overs. Australia appeared weak in their 143-run defence.

The bowlers from Australia squeeze

It is usually preferable to take early wickets when defending a low score in order to apply pressure. Applying run-rate pressure is the next best thing. And on the powerplay, Australia did just that. In the first four overs, they did not give up a boundary despite Bates and Georgia Plimmer having trouble keeping up with the pace. Bates found the rope three times before ultimately breaking away from Schutt and Darcie Brown. Still, New Zealand did not lose a wicket in the powerplay, managing only 34 runs.

The required rate had risen to eight per over when Plimmer pulled an attempted sweep onto her stumps off Georgia Wareham. When Gardner exacted her wrath on Kerr, pinning her leg before wicket with a deft change of pace as she attempted to sweep, the game quickly went beyond nine. After then, Litchfield made an athletic catch at cover to get rid of the well-positioned Bates for a 34-run score.

Two overs later, Sophie Devine was dismissed for a torturous 4 off 10 balls, which also involved Brown dropping her at short third. Despite some more careless fielding, Australia was able to end the game at that point. The equation for New Zealand reached 54 off 18 before Maddy Green and Gaze made a fleeting attempt at a miracle. However, that was only made feasible by some careless fielding.

Also Read: Ashleigh Gardner cleared of concussion after Wareham head clash

After Schutt missed a sitter off Green at cover-point, three of the following five balls found their way to the rope. Gardner then had a chance to steal a second and run Green out, but Healy mishandled the throw, making it a bit wider than it needed to be. However, Sutherland maintained her composure in the deep off Gardner to ultimately put an end to Green’s rearguard.