Australia rout NZ by 97 runs, begin T20 Women's World Cup title defence in style

Australia began their Womens T20 World Cup title defence on a resounding note with a comfortable 97run win over TransTasman rivals New Zealand hereAlyssa Healy made 55 her highest score in the format since the 2020 ICC Womens T20 World Cup Final while captain Meg Lanning 41 and Ellyse Perry 40 also contributed with the bat as Australia racked up a competitive 173 for nine after being asked to bat on SaturdayNew Zealand endured a forgetful start as Suzie Bates was dismissed with the first ball of their reply and then kept losing wickets in a heap to be bowled out for 76 in 14 oversGardner was the chief destroyer with a sublime spell of 512 her best T20I bowling figures as the fivetime champions started off with a dominant victoryBeth Mooney only lasted two balls as she poked unconvincingly at Lea Tahuhu and Eden Carson flew to her right to pouch a stunning catch at backward pointHealy and Lanning clubbed together and guided Australia to 47 for one from six overs their bestever powerplay score against New Zealand at the T20 World CupThey assembled a 70run stand for the second wicket until Amelia Kerr tucked up Lanning and she was bowled playing a cut shot to a straight deliveryTahuhu found Gardners leading edge in the next over Carson taking a simple catch to make it 76 for threeHealy and Perry took over and raced to a 50 partnership in just 28 ballsAlso readIndia Women eye elusive ICC title open T20 World Cup campaign against archrivals PakistanHealy perished when she was deceived by Tahuhus slower ball and caught on the fencePerry and Grace Harris 8ball 22run partnership promised fireworks but fizzled out when the latter was run out on 14Perry kept swinging lifting Amelia Kerr over the cover boundary but she was dismissed a ball later and then Jess Jonassen departed for a twoball duck in the same overThere was a late flurry of wickets as Alana King and Tahlia McGrath came and went in the last two oversThe start of the Kiwi reply was a surreal one Megan Schutt bowled five wides with the first ball and with the second bowled Bates who went down for an improbable scoopBoth openers were dismissed within the over as skipper Sophie Devine was trapped LBWBernadine Bezuidenhout and Amelia Kerr briefly stabilised the innings Bezuidenhout reverse swept Jonassen to the fence before departing for 14 caught by Darcie Brown off PerryThe White Ferns sunk to 37 for four after Maddy Green was run outKerr was the next to go bowled by Gardner The slide continued as Hayley Jensen chipped tamely to midwicket before Tahuhu and Rowe were accounted for by Gardner in quick successionNew Zealand lost three wickets for four runs in 11 balls with Gardner taking the final two wickets in the 14th overBrief ScoresAustralia 173 for nine in 20 overs Alyssa Healy 55 Ellyse Perry 40 Amelia Kerr 323 Lea Tahuhu 337 beat New Zealand 76 all out in 14 overs Amelia Kerr 21 Bernadine Bezuidenhout 14 Ashleigh Gardner 512 Megan Schutt 28This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever