Sue Redfern (England), Vrinda Rathi (India), Anna Harris (England, TV)
Referee
GS Lakshmi (India)
Toss
Australia Women elected to bat
Pitch Report
Same pitch as the last night. Four metres between off and on side. Straight on is 73m. It has been 44 wickets for 136 overs in Sharjah, so once every three overs which is one lesser than Dubai. The bounce is lower than Dubai too. But if you look at the pitch, there's grass all along. It'll hold good. Will there be spin, yes? But we'll get more than 124 runs scored here today.
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
117Avg Runs
7Avg Wkts
99.22Avg
SR
2nd Innings
104Avg Runs
6Avg Wkts
97.68Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Sharjah,United Arab Emirates
Updated: 08 Oct 22:30
31°CClear
clear sky
0%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
79%
Humidity
6.6 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
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Venue Details
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Same pitch as the last night. Four metres between off and on side. Straight on is 73m. It has been 44 wickets for 136 overs in Sharjah, so once every three overs which is one lesser than Dubai. The bounce is lower than Dubai too. But if you look at the pitch, there's grass all along. It'll hold good. Will there be spin, yes? But we'll get more than 124 runs scored here today.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
With this win, the defending champions are now sitting pretty at the apex spot of the points table. However, they key takeaway from this match is the modification for both teams in the NRR coloumn. Australia have surged ahead of everyone else with a positive net run rate of 2.52, while New Zealand's has plummeted to -0.05. Remember, it could be a crucial metric in deciding the semifinalists at the end of the group stage. We hope you enjoyed the coverage. That is it for tonight. Join us back tomorrow for more action from ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024. For now, it is the pair of Darpan Tikiya and Rudransh Khurana signing off! Sayonara!
Alyssa Healy [Australian Captain]: We were a bit disappointed at the half-way mark. We could have closed it better. But we did well to come out on top. There was a bit of extra bounce on the wicket today. We will reassess. We know what teams would now dish out to us at the backend. But on this wicket, we knew 150 was enough. So we just needed to hang in there. Schutt has been awesome for us in World Cups. Also, Sutherland's over changed the game for us.
Sophie Devine [New Zealand Captain]: We needed a good start. We let the required run rate get too big. In this sort of a match, the run rate can creep up too quickly. Disappointing night. But we are not going to get too bogged down. We got ourselves in a big hole which is not ideal against the best team in the world. With the ball we strangled too far away from the stumps. We were better against India in that aspect. Net run rate was a discussion point. But I think at the end of the day, we were not good enough. Still two games to go. We don't want to look too far ahead. Sri Lanka is now our most important game of the tournament.
Megan Schutt (Player of the Match for her 3/3): I feel like I have lost a few litres. It was a crucial match after the way they played against India. The plans ebbed and flowed, initially we thought to get 160 then 150. But we knew if we can get some wickets in the powerplay we'd be able to put the squeeze in the middle-overs. I haven't changed much, it's just about doing the simple things. I knew it'd be good if I kept stumps in play. We have a big emphasis on our fitness leading up to the tournament. We are focussing on enjoying our success. For a lot of girls it's their first World Cup, it's important to enjoy as well; we are taking it one day at a time!
This is Australia's 13th consecutive victory in ICC Women's T20 World Cups and it has been yet another night of dominance. Alyssa Healy won the toss, elected to bat first and despite the late order collapse, Australia managed to put up a competitive total on the board. Mooney led the way with a sturdy innings of 40 (32), while experienced players Healy and Perry too chipped in with vital contributions.
At one stage, it seemed as if Australia would be able to get themselves to 160, but a fine spell of wrist spin from Amelia Kerr pegged them back as they collapsed from 109/2 to 138/8.
However, the defending champions were clinical with the ball. They knew that the surface was on the slower side and hence, did not give much pace for the NZ batters to work with. Their lines were largely wicket to wicket and coupled with the brilliance in ground fielding that they put on display, White Ferns found it hard to get any sort of momentum in the innings.
In the end, the takeaway from this match is not just the two points for the Aussies but also, the huge dent they have inflicted upon New Zealand's net run rate.
19.2 Megan Schutt to Eden Carson, ALL OVER! Full and sneaks it in on middle and leg, Carson looks to hoick it across the line but loses her shape and is caught too deep in her crease. The stumps are knocked over for the seventh time in this innings and this time, fatally for New Zealand. Eden Carson b Megan Schutt 5 (11b, 0x4, 0x6)
19.1 Megan Schutt to Eden Carson, length ball on off, defended back easily
Megan Schutt [3-0-2-3] to finish things off.
Gardner caps off a night of ordinary returns for her personally. She didn't score much with the bat and has gone wicketless with the ball.
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Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fran Jonas
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Ashleigh Gardner
Video
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