Seven-time champions Australia defeated New Zealand in second Women's ODI WC match y 89 runs
Ashleigh Gardner won the Player of the Match award for her 115-run knock
NZ-W skipper Sophie Devine also smashed a century but failed to take her team past the victory line
Seven-time champions Australia begin their ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 campaign with a magnificent 89-run win against familiar rivals New Zealand in Indore on Wednesday, October 1.
Opting to bat first, AUS-W had a great start, provided by openers Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield. However, Healy departed on 19 runs but the batters still continued the attack and were scoring runs with a run-rate of more than 6.
Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals but not a single batter batted slow. Then came the star of the match, Ashleigh Gardner, who also batted a good pace but responsibly. She smashed a 77-ball century, the third-fastes in the history of Women's ODI WC. She was supported by Kim Garth in the end and they both took the team's total to 326 after losing 10 wickets.
Chasing the target, the White Ferns started horribly, losing their first two wickets without scoring a single run. Georgia Plimmer registered a diamond duck after getting run out in the very first over while her opening partner Suzie Bates also went to the pavilion witout scoring a single run.
Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine steadied the ship after a shaky start and stitched a 75-run stand for the third wicket. After Kerr's dismissal, every batter had a great start but ended up throuwing their wickets. On the other hand, Devine kept one end safe but it wasn't enough to take her team to the victory line as they lost the match by 89 runs. Gardner was named Player of the Match for his magnificent 115-run knock.
Australia will now take on Sri Lanka in their next match in Colombo on October 4 while New Zealand will meet South Africa on October 6 in Indore.
Australia Women vs New Zealand Women: Head-to-head
Total Matches Played: 148
Australia Women Won: 108
New Zealand Women Won: 37
No Result/Tied: 3
AUS-W vs NZ-W, ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025: Toss
Australia women won the toss and elected to bat first.
AUS-W vs NZ-W, ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025: Playing XIs
New Zealand Women (Playing XI): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Jess Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson, Bree Illing
Australia Women (Playing XI): Alyssa Healy(w/c), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Alana King, Kim Garth, Darcie Brown
AUS-W vs NZ-W, ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025: Captain Quotes
Healy | Australia captain: Batting as well as she did, you never feel comfortable (talking about Devine). Full credit to the girls for hanging in there. Hit our lengths in the end and got the job done. We were struggling through the middle period and still made over 300. Doesn't take much for one of our middle order to make a hundred which is really cool. As a batting group we'll just reflect on some of our dismissals and where we can be more precise to ensure we're pushing totals of 350 on wickets like these. At the end of the day there were no wrong options, but maybe just not as precise as we would like them to be. She's just continuing to mature as a cricketer with both bat and ball (Gardner). Really impressive to watch. We back our depth.
Devine | NZ captain: It's bittersweet to be fair (how'd she rate the hundred). I'd throw it all away to make sure this team won. Proud of the fight shown. A couple of years away we probably would've thrown in the towel and get skittled for 150. But the fact that we keep coming, keep going and keep backing our strengths is something I'm proud of. Despite the result not going our way, the way we played the game today is something that makes me proud. Midge (Alyssa Healy) has given me stick that I've never scored a hundred against Australia, so should've given a salute to her. You always want to be on the winning team so it's hard to digest that. A long way to go in this World Cup.
