Meg Lanning century gives Australia victory over New Zealand, edges closer to ODI world record streak
The rampaging Australian women’s cricket team, so strong that they can win minus their injured stars, are a joy to watch. These women have transformed the sporting landscape for so many young people, writes Robert Craddock.
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Call it sweet sporting symmetry.
As Australia celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Sydney Olympics, featuring arguably its finest women’s sporting team, we might just have found their match.
Meg Lanning’s Australian women’s cricket team celebrated their 21st consecutive 50-over victory with a thumping 232-run win over New Zealand at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field on Wednesday.
They equalled the world record for consecutive wins set by Ricky Ponting’s Australians when they were World Cup kings in 2003.
The timing was perfect and provocative because the Sydney Games anniversary has highlighted an iconic Australian sporting team which became a timeless benchmark for greatness.
Ric Charlesworth’s gold medal winning Hockeyroos weren’t so much a team as a machine … a fit, fearless outfit who were clearly years ahead of their time and the rest of the world.
The rampaging Australian women’s cricket team, so strong that they can win minus their injured stars, have a similar aura about them as they drag the game skywards.
The joy for cricket is that their success has plastered posters of Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry onto the walls of young female players who had previously lacked role models, if only because they couldn’t regularly find them.
Television has made stars of the leading women’s players, a merciful relief to the marketers of the female game who had been saying for years “if you cannot see them you cannot be them.’’
Full-time professionalism came into women’s cricket three or four years ago and has transformed the game. Players are fitter and stronger, scores are rising. Indigenous star Ash Gardner once hit a ball which landed on the roof of the grandstand at North Sydney Oval and bounced outside the ground.
Big hitting is common now to the point where the roped boundaries occasionally seem too close. Five of Australia’s scores in the 21-match streak were above 300.
But it’s not just power.
Young leg-spinner Georgia Wareham has control and poise and a decent wrong ’un while Meg Lanning, who started out hitting macadamia nuts with a golf club in the backyard, has male players shaking their heads at the way she can deftly work a ball behind point even if it has got the pace off it.
Australian women’s coach Matthew Mott believes for young cricketers — boys and girls — there is no better batting technique role model to follow than Perry, admired by many youngsters who claim Ellyse and not Katy is their preferred Perry.
On Wednesday they put Ponting’s record within reach early, setting the Kiwis a target of 325 – the biggest total at Allan Border Field. They would register their biggest win against New Zealand, who buckled in the face of a world-record run chase.
Interim captain Rachael Haynes led the side to victory with Lanning on the sideline through injury. Haynes finished with player of the match and player of the series honours after scoring 96.
“It hasn’t been something we’ve talked a lot about as a group but we’ve definitely been aware of the attention it’s been getting externally,” Haynes said of the record. “I think it’s going to be one of those things we reflect back on and are really proud of the achievement.
“It’s been across the course of a few years and 21 players have been a part of that and contributed to the success of the team throughout that period, so it’s a really special achievement.”
Victory handed Australia a clean sweep of the Rose Bowl series and a 5-1 start to the COVID-19 impacted summer after their single T20 loss to NZ in the final match of the series.
MARVELLOUS MEG’S TON EDGES AUSSIES CLOSER TO RECORD
By Emma Greenwood, NCA newswire
Captain Meg Lanning scored an unbeaten century in a record run chase as the Australian women’s cricket team beat New Zealand by four wickets to seal the Rose Bowl.
The Aussie women are now within a single victory of Ricky Ponting’s ODI team’s world-record streak.
On her much-loved Allan Border Field deck, Lanning clubbed a boundary to bring up her 14th one-day century and pass New Zealand’s target of 252 as the Aussies, on Monday, notched their 20th consecutive win.
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The Aussies are now just one win short of the world record set by the Australian men’s team 17 years ago and have the chance to equal that mark in the final match of the series, again at Allan Border Field, Wednesday.
Needing a record run chase — the Aussies’ previous best was 229 in 2017 against England — Lanning and Co looked to be cruising to a comfortable win when she and Rachael Haynes put on 117 for the second wicket.
Compounding the visitors’ issues, key strike bowler Lea Tahuhu suffered a back strain and was forced from the field 13 overs into the defence.
When Haynes departed, the Kiwis made inroads into the middle order, Amelia Kerr ripping through with three wickets — including Sophie Molineux and Ash Gardner off consecutive balls — leaving the Aussies suddenly looking shaky.
But, in just her second match, young gun Annabel Sutherland steadied the ship with Lanning, taking Australia within eight runs of victory before departing for 17.
CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
The Australians can equal the world-record streak with victory in the final match of the Rose Bowl series on Wednesday and, while they are aware of the mark, Lanning said it would be like any other game.
“We go out to win every game that we play and it’ll be no different on Wednesday,” she said.
“We haven’t spoken about the record as a group. Obviously we’re aware of it, it’s been in the media and spoken about a fair bit and it’s a nice position to be in.
“Hopefully we can finish off the series well, we’ve been able to do that well over the past three years and not let sides back in, so we’ll certainly be looking to do that on Wednesday.”
Lanning tweaked her hamstring early in the run chase on Monday while batting with Haynes but said it would not prevent her from playing on Wednesday.
CAPTAIN’S KNOCK
With countrywoman Suzie Bates ruled out of the remainder of the series after injuring her shoulder in Saturday’s clash, Kiwi captain Sophie Devine opened the batting and put the White Ferns in a strong position, enjoying after half-century partnerships with both Natalie Dodd (34 off 59) and Amy Satterthwaite (69 off 73).
Devine brought up her 50 off 67 balls and pushed on to record a career high against Australia, falling for 79 (115) after attempting to play across the line against Jess Jonassen, her top edge popping up to Haynes for a simple catch.
Devine’s innings set the platform to allow the Kiwis to swing freely late and push past 250.
The Kiwi all-rounder then made an impact with the ball, snaring the key wickets of Alyssa Healy and Haynes.
“It’s a funny one, it was a pleasing day for me personally but it doesn’t really mean anything when you can’t help the team get over the line,” Devine said.
“Me and Nat Dodd had a great start at the top of the order and she’s shown that she’s class there, so I was really happy with the start we had and we laid a great platform to come in and finish the job off.
“I thought 250 was a winning score, with the ball we just didn’t stay at it long enough.”
MORE CRICKET:
Australia v India tour: Allan Border says Australia must not bow down to India on scheduling changes
Superstar Aussie all-rounder Ellyse Perry has re-injured her hamstring and may not be right for WBBL
Alyssa Healy breaks MS Dhoni’s T20 wicketkeeping record
JONASSEN’S LATE HAUL
Jonassen and her fellow spinners dominated the White Ferns in the opening match of the series on Saturday but it was not until late in the innings that the Queensland left-arm orthodox made her mark.
It was Jonassen that broke through to claim the crucial wicket of Devine in the 39th over, ending a 93-run partnership.
She then finished her spell with a flurry, claiming three wickets in her final over to finish with the best of the bowling figures at 4-36.
Jonassen’s triple was followed by two wickets from Megan Schutt in the 50th over, New Zealand losing 4-2 to limp back to the dressing room without a yelp.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand 9-252 (50) — Devine 79 (115), Satterthwaite 69 (73), Jonassen 4-36 (10)
Defeated by
Australia 6-255 (44.1) — Lanning 101* (96), Haynes 82 (89), Kerr 3-47 (10)
Originally published as Meg Lanning century gives Australia victory over New Zealand, edges closer to ODI world record streak
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