Tue 30 Mar 2021 06.16 BST
First published on March 30, 2021, 02.35 a.m. CET
6.16 a.m. BST06: 16
That was a fun day. Happiness fluctuations, a few periods of grinding, a few flashes of freedom. This series will make a decision on Thursday and we will cover Emma Kemp. Thank you for your company today.
6.14 a.m. BST06: 14
Amy Satterthwaite is the substitute captain. I felt a little rusty at first, you have to think all the time. I talked about it before the game and said if everyone played their part we would be in a good position and everyone did that. We played brilliantly, all bowlers did their job. I said before hitting that I wanted us to try to stay one step ahead of the rate and that didn’t happen. But the way Frankie Mackay was there and helped us move forward was important. It was a great day for her to open her eyelashes and open bowling but she was brilliant. I took up the challenge and accepted it with both hands. I will be doing a French cut every day of the week. We lost a game against Australia that way, so we’ll win.
6:10 a.m. BST06: 10
Meg Lanning says she always thought they were a bit easy for runs, even though she was confident that her bowlers were a good chance to compete. Getting the game to the final ball shows they did it. We felt we had to take the gate to stay in competition so it was a matter of balancing out with the running rate. That last ball, I don’t think there was too much wrong with it, but that’s the way it goes.
6:08 a.m. BST06: 08
Frankie Mackay is the player of the game. Opened the eyelash and bowling. « It’s a little tender to be honest, but you would take all the pain in the world to get a win like this. » I shocked myself and my teammates when I saw these shots go over the rope. Sometimes, when the heart rate increases a bit, you have to take a deep breath and look around and think, that’s why we do this. ????
5.57 a.m. BST05: 57
A win for New Zealand women. They were recently ordered around by England, and before that they toured and were ordered around Australia. They lost the first T20 game after having a good chance of winning it and there were several points today where it looked like they should win just for Australia to move forward again. It was a mystery until the last couple of overs, it was far from clinical, but it was probably all the more enjoyable for it.
Hannah Rowe was great in the end. Talk about humble records: she had hit a limit in T20 cricket for New Zealand before today. She hit two in those innings when they really mattered, ahead of Megan Rubble at the end. I wondered if Schutt was too consistent in this final, playing the same type of delivery over and over again. In the end, Rowe managed to do that.
Maddy Green then found the limit twice in the final, and that was enough. 21 of the last two overs was no small demand!
The fact that they were close enough for this final rally can be attributed to Frankie Mackay. It started out bulky, a bit hampered by a leg injury, and it got worse as the innings progressed. But she got the rating going, hit a couple of sixes and increased the mood with the running rate. Her 46 out of 39 changed the momentum, and Amelia Kerr’s 36 out of 33 kept things together in the middle.
And the fact that a chase was there to get comes back to New Zealand’s bowling efforts. They were so good all day that Australia was forced to hit the border drivers, hit the infield and thus keep the score low. It’s impressive to keep a team like Australia doing 6.5 runs per over consistently, but it’s more like doing it without knocking them out.
5.55 a.m. BST05: 55
20th over: NZ 131-6 (Green 16, Rowe 14) New Zealand wins the match in an entertaining way. The ball is good, full and straight. Green gives himself space, tries a big swing to the side of the leg. Angled bat. Inside edge. Behind the stump of the leg, the short fine hits and runs for four. Carey sinks to the floor. Lanning hides her face in her hands. Green laughs, laughs before she even crosses a run, halfway up the field and unable to believe her luck. Rock hard and hope that’s about as nifty as it gets in this situation. And on this occasion hope has delivered.
5.53 a.m. BST05: 53
5.52 a.m. BST05: 52
19.5 overs: One run! Bottom edge of Rowe as she tries to go to the side of the leg. The ball lands at their feet. Green retired halfway and went on strike. Three runs to win, two runs to win a Super Over.
5.51 a.m. BST05: 51
19.4 Overs: Long conference between Lanning and Carey. Long is back. Long gone is back. It will be full. Point ball! Swing away from the bat and it’ll hit the ledge.
5.51 a.m. BST05: 51
19.3 Overs: One run. This time Green pushes it back past the bowler. Rowe on strike. 4 runs of 3 balls required.
5.50 a.m. BST05: 50
19.2 overs: dot ball! Almost a slip at the end of the non-striker when Green strikes back at Carey and Rowe dives for her floor.
5.49 a.m. BST05: 49
19.1 Overs: Maddy Green on strike. Can beat for a long time. Nicola Carey Bowling. Skiddy pace. On the stumps. Green hits it for four! By covering, on the way, along the ground, the gap meets.
5.48 a.m. BST05: 48
19. over: NZ 121-6 (Green 7, Rowe 13) No second hat trick in this format for Megan Schutt, as Rowe drives the corresponding ball to the ground for a single. Want the second one, but it’s not there. Green tries to muscle a ball straight but can only get one again. Rubble goes to the side of the leg, but Rowe, who tries to sweep, gets a pad on the ball! Stores rubble at least a width, maybe five of them. Similar line on the next ball, but Rowe stands up this time, clears her front toe, and shovels four runs through a long leg! Good shot. Play to the next Midwicket ball and race back to the second while rubble continues to aim at the bat’s boots. The same ball of rubble to end the ending, and by now Rowe has them lined up! Middle it on one knee between the two-sided sweepers at Midwicket for four.
5.44 a.m. BST05: 44
18th over: NZ 109-6 (Green 6, Rowe 1) Maddy Green can hit big and finds a limit here. Wakes up against a stump against Jonassen, steps outside and plays a standing blow behind the square leg. Hit another nice, but straight to deep midwicket. NZ takes 21 of the last two overs.
5.43 a.m. BST05: 43
17. over: NZ 101-6 (Green 0) Just shows how good this Australian team is. Games that they shouldn’t be participating in, they find ways to stay in them. You are now in the box seat.
5.41 a.m. BST05: 41
Two in two balls! Schutt scored a hat trick to finish third. Swing the ball in and float up the stumps. Kerr advances but doesn’t know what to do with the full length. Yorks themselves in the end. Strikes the ball, misses and hits the center stump.
5.39 a.m. BST05: 39
The left handed Halliday starts with debris coming around the wicket. Halliday is digging too long a run. Back over the wicket to the right-handed Kerr who is strong from her pads. Digs a point, then whips a ball far from Long-On. Halliday calls for two and runs to the end of the danger to make it. Kerr strikes again, cuts in width, hits him well, but is knocked down at the point. One run instead of four. That puts Halliday back on strike for a big swing in the leg, an outside ridge that climbs up and comes down in short cover where Healy has come in behind the stumps to catch. Another wicket from the fifth ball and the task becomes more difficult for New Zealand.
5.35 a.m. BST05: 35
16. over: NZ 97-4 (A Kerr 33, Halliday 0) Brooke Halliday did well in her short chance the other day. Kerr scored a hit for the last ball of the over after crossing before catching. Wareham ends up doing it beautifully, yorking Kerr and denying her the chance to score.
5.34 a.m. BST05: 34
Wareham’s finale is over. Kerr comes over the wicket with her leg spinner and clears it out over Midwicket. Four runs, first ball of over. Wareham comes back with a few points, swinging, but not in time. Sweeps a single, puts Martin on strike, and the kiwi keeper tries to get big right on the floor but makes a mistake. Carey waits in the middle and claims the high ball. Had to push the limits, Martin, but sucked up a few too many supplies before stepping out.
5.31 a.m. BST05: 31
15th over: NZ 92-3 (A Kerr 28, Martin 5) Slightly more productive for New Zealand, five singles against Jonassen as they work around the spin. You need 38 of the last five overs.
5.29 a.m. BST05: 29
14. over: NZ 87-3 (A Kerr 25, Martin 3) Parry and push. A fine from Wareham, two of them including Martin skipping a ball that landed safely between center and cover after trying to go over the top.
5.24 a.m. BST05: 24
13th over: NZ 85-3 (A Kerr 24, Martin 2) Katey Martin in the next, the busy wicketkeeper bat. Can be very useful in these situations. Jonassen throws the 13th and only gives up four singles while the Batters find the field.
NZ needs 45 of 42 balls. Frankie closed that void for them. Lose yours from here.
5.22 a.m. BST05: 22
12th over: NZ 81-3 (A Kerr 22) Darcie Brown is back. Ten runs from her three overs so far, and Lanning hopes she can get Frankie involved. But she bowls to Kerr first. and Kerr cuts beautifully for four! Shot! Not far from Haynes at the backward point, but it had even gone to her on the go. It flies far and wide to the rope. Feeling good, Kerr storms the Australian team’s fastest bowler but misses. Stay at home for the next ball, again short, again cut, but this time Haynes gets a hand while diving and keeps the score on a run. Frankie on strike. Nail it for four! By midwicket along the bottom, lots of bottom hand as she whips that ball away and comes over the line. Brown replies and hits her doorman so hard that Mackay is freed about the height of another Mackay. She is not disturbed. Get on the front dog’s next ball, drop to one knee, and crash the slog sweep for six! About deep middle. And after a brilliant game for New Zealand with 16 runs it comes to an end. Frankie is short and wide again and nails the cut but gets no placement. Quickly to Mooney, who juggles the catch but manages to claim it on the second try while falling to the ground.
What an inning for Frankie Mackay. All round applause. And let’s not forget, Darcie Brown’s first international wicket.
5.16 a.m. BST05: 16
11th by: NZ 65-2 (Mackay 36, A Kerr 17) Two shots per minute from Frankie. Tries the reverse round shot against Carey and tries to get through the deep third place, but is missing. Absolutely a pull shot for the next ball, but it’s a jump to the deep midwicket sweeper. Carey goes with the side of his leg to Kerr, would have been a distance, but Kerr catches it with a glove and takes four! Very good behind the goalkeeper.
5.14 a.m. BST05: 14
10. over: NZ 58-2 (Mackay 35, A Kerr 11) Another big blow for Mackay along the floor to the back seat, a run. Kerr attacks Wareham, who bowls shorter, and Kerr adapts well, opening his face to guide the ball to the backward point. Haynes and Mooney crash into each other! The ball escapes down between them for two runs, with the deck sweeper running around. Fortune smiles at New Zealand, and when Mackay pulls back too far, Healy throws at the non-striker’s stumps again, and Mackay has come back in time and then can take a fall. That gives her the strike and a chance to come down the wicket and beat Wareham for six. Via Deep Midwicket and into the hospitality area on the ground in Napier.
5.09 a.m. BST05: 09
9. over: NZ 47-2 (Mackay 27, A Kerr 7) Jess Jonassen plays orthodox with the left arm and takes wickets against New Zealand for fun. Mackay tosses the first ball off her pads and makes a second run to the deep back square and that hurts her. She already prefers an Achilles tendon by the looks of it, and it rolls her ankle a bit on the second run as well. Tries a backward pass on the next ball and misses. Then she nails a solid pull shot but straight to the deep midwicket. Take the run, Kerr cuts you for cover, Mackay tries a huge sweep shot and misses. So for Mackay it’s only now great successes. Another to end the ending, but finds the leg sweeper again. The doctor comes out at the end of the over, but Frankie says relax. It will continue to vibrate.
5.05 a.m. BST05: 05
8. over: NZ 41-2 (Mackay 23, A Kerr 6) Georgia Wareham on, and the Kiwis tackle them immediately. Mackay advances and takes a run. Kerr goes low and sweeps a boundary, then runs to the middle and hits well enough to draw a miss. The deep square leg is back now, so Mackay’s sweep is just one run. But seven from the top, and that helps.
5.02 a.m. BST05: 02
7th past: NZ 34-2 (Mackay 21, A Kerr 1) Amelia Kerr in the middle. Mackay was really at the top as a pinch hitter, but she’s still there and will probably have to try long to beat now. After swapping a few singles, she finds her first limit and lowers her knees to pull Carey hard and flat behind the square. Then a tricky single to end the ending and take over the pitch from Haynes who misses when Mackay works to the non-striker’s end. Apparently she is dealing with an injury problem, she certainly looks disabled on those fast runs.
4.59 a.m. BST04: 59
Oh dear. First ball after the power play, Nicola Carey bowling her medium pace on the pads of Satterthwaite who plays the pick-up shot well. Sometimes it hits from the air. But there is a deep central roof and it lands right in their hands. Looks like she wanted to get a little more angular with it.
4.56 a.m. BST04: 56
6. over: NZ 27-1 (Mackay 15, Satterthwaite 6) Mackay’s uppercut again against Brown, and he ends up not far from Schutt in deep third place. Satterthwaite backs away and slides into the same region. But when Brown goes inside the body he puts Mackay together and she can’t score. From the Yorker who follows. She has been fighting 19 balls for 13 balls and wants to leave. Sometimes her next shot was better off her pads, through a square leg for two runs.
The power play overs cost Australia 4, 2, 8, 3, 5 and 5. A triumph.
4.53 a.m. BST04: 53
5th over: NZ 22-1 (Mackay 12, Satterthwaite 5) Mackay is a busy player, but the only bowler she can’t handle is rubble. This inswing confuses Mackay, she falls over her front leg and tries to walk towards it consistently. Four point balls as she fumbled around before managing to poke a single square on the side of the leg. Satterthwaite saves the over for NZ as Schutt does not correct her left-handed line and lets the batsman take a look at the legs.
4.51 a.m. BST04: 51
4th over: NZ 17-1 (Mackay 11, Satterthwaite 1) Darcie Brown continues when she has stopped. Quickly, on the body, sometimes outside the stump. The Batters defend a couple of singles and then Frankie does a run in style. Another decent one, three runs down from the top.
4.47 a.m. BST04: 47
3rd over: NZ 14-1 (Mackay 9) Ellyse Perry has a bowl. She didn’t do this in the first match, but only fought at the end of the innings. Starts off with a rusty strain on the leg stump and Mackay shoves it through a fine leg for four. The batsman hits you halfway, and that’s also a no-ball for crossing, says the third referee. Jensen swings off his feet with a free hit, backs away and is completely absent. Received a single to cover a midfield, Mackay resumes the Frankie Show by scooping over a fine leg. But it’s saved and only brings one, and that puts Jensen on strike for the sixth ball. She tries to vacate the center and instead cuts it straight to Lanning for cover. That’s what I was referring to with Jensen: 3 out of 12 isn’t what you need from an opener who rarely looked like it had a clear idea of where to score.
Ref: https://www.theguardian.com
