New Zealand’s tour of Australia hosted its’ final chapter on Wednesday, when the hosts emerged victorious in the 3rd ODI, equalling the world-record 21-match winning streak by Ricky Ponting and Co.
The 6-match series, which marked the resumption of the Rose Bowl rivalry, saw the Aussies win by a thumping 3-0 and 2-1 margin, in the ODI and T20I series, respectively. With this Rose Bowl triumph, the girls in yellow have never lost the Rose Bowl in this millennium. Let’s delve deeper into a statistical analysis of this recently concluded series.
Most Runs – New Zealand Women tour of Australia 2020
The series was hosted in its entirety at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane and was mostly dominated by bowlers in the T20I’s due to the low and slow nature of the wicket, after a long pause in cricketing activities on the pitch. Topping the highest run-getter chart in the T20I’s was Australian all-rounder, Ashleigh Gardner, with 90 runs from just 2 innings. She was followed by Meg Lanning and Amy Satterthwaite with 71 and 61 runs, respectively.
In the ODI series, which determines the outcome of the Rose Bowl, saw the Aussies hand out a whitewash to their neighbors, with special help from their opening batsmen. Leading the way was Rachael Haynes who had a fabulous series, with scores of 82 and 93 in the 2nd and 3rd ODI’s. With an average of 74, she notched up 222 runs in the ODI’s. Haynes was joined by her captain, Meg Lanning, and explosive opening partner, Alyssa Healy. The duo scored 163 and 134 runs respectively.
New Zealand faced a torrid time in their batting innings, with the exception of Amy Satterthwaite. Making a comeback after her maternity break, Satterthwaite’s return to cricket meant more than just numbers. She paved a way in the sport for a sportswoman to be able to be at the peak of her game, along with being a mother. With 172 runs in the series, this will be a series to remember for the former Kiwi captain.
| Player | Runs (ODI Series) |
| Rachael Haynes | 222 |
| Meg Lanning | 163 |
| Alyssa Healy | 134 |
| Amy Satterthwaite | 111 |
Most Wickets – New Zealand Women tour of Australia 2020
The slow nature of the pitch, along with its’ unpredictable bounce, made it a very effective pitch for slower bowlers to dominate. The top 3 features Jess Jonassen who tops the list with 8 wickets for just 81 runs in her 24.1 overs.
With a lot more exposure after the initial three matches, batting became much simpler in the ODI series. Pacers played a vital role, due to the wickets gaining pace, and saw the Australian pace duo of Jess Jonassen and Sophie Molineux, finish on top of the charts. They took 8 and 6 wickets respectively and were joined by the Kiwi, Amelia Kerr, at third place. The Brisbane Heat spinner ended the series with 6 wickets and a best of 3/47. The best bowling performance of the series was by Jonassen, where she took 4 wickets for 36 runs in a closely fought encounter.
| Player | Wickets (ODI) |
| Jess Jonassen | 8 |
| Sophie Molineux | 6 |
| Amelia Kerr | 6 |
| Megan Schutt | 5 |
Highest Scores, Strike-Rate and 50s/100s – New Zealand Women tour of Australia 2020
The only half-century of the T20I series was scored by Ashleigh Gardner, in her innings of 61, where she struck 6 boundaries and 3 maximum’s. Gardner also registered the highest strike-rate of the T20I’s, operating in excess of 145. Runs came by much more comfortably in the ODI series, with 6 scores of 50+, along with a century from Meg Lanning. The highest score of the series was the Australian captain’s match-winning knock of 101* from 96 balls in the 2nd ODI.
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