Captain Sophie Devine posted an unbeaten 161 in just 117 deliveries, with big contributions from Amelia Kerr (92*) and Suzie Bates (63) seeing New Zealand chase their win target of 322; The Women’s World Cup kicks off on Friday, live on Sky Sports
Sophie Devine scored an unbeaten 161 to guide New Zealand to an impressive win
Hosts New Zealand stunned pre-tournament favorites Australia with an emphatic nine-game win in their warm-up match ahead of the Women’s World Cup.
New Zealand eliminated Australia 321, with Hannah Rowe (4-49) the choice of the home attack, before captain Sophie Devine scored a remarkable unbeaten 161 to help reach her goal of victory with nearly seven overs to spare. .
Devine’s innings lasted 117 deliveries and included 23 fours and four sixes, with a 119-run start with Suzie Bates (63) laying the groundwork for the impressive victory.
Alana King’s sacking of Bates was the only Australian breakthrough, with Amelia Kerr posting an unbeaten 92 from just 75 deliveries and setting up an unbeaten second-wicket partnership with Devine to see New Zealand reach 325 with 41 balls remaining.
Australia saw four of their first six – Meg Lanning (87), Alyssa Healy (64), Ashleigh Gardner (60*) and Beth Mooney (55) – all score half a century.
India, on the other hand, will enter the tournament on the back of successive warm-up victories as they followed up Sunday’s success against South Africa by beating West Indies on Tuesday.
A half-century by Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma helped India post 258, before a solid all-around effort from the ball limited the West Indies to 177-9 in return and secured an 81-run victory.
Anya Shrubsole says England are “really confident” they can challenge Australia as they prepare for the defense of their Women’s World Cup title in New Zealand, which begins in Hamilton on Saturday.
England struggled in the multi-format series as the hosts won all three one-day internationals and the tourists failed to win a match, although three of the contests were affected by rain and two completely washed out, with Shrubsole confident that England can recover.
“With a World Cup, they are unique games and we are really confident that if we play our best cricket we can really challenge Australia,” Shrubsole told the PA news agency. “You just have to do well on the day and I think enough time will have passed between the end of the Ashes and the start of the World Cup.
“It’s really important for us as a team to be able to put what happened in Australia on hold and almost feel like we’re starting the tournament again. We know that if we play our best cricket, we’re up there with anyone in our
day.”
Shrubsole was the star of the 2017 World Cup final as he tore through India’s lower order, finishing six from 46, including five wickets on 19 balls, as England snatched victory from the jaws of what looked like inevitable defeat. in a full Lord’s. .
But the 30-year-old doesn’t think entering the tournament as defending champions will put any extra pressure on him.
“To be honest, I don’t think so, I think it’s one of those things: there will always be one holder of the title,” she added. “It’s been a tremendous amount of time since then. I think whatever happened in that tournament has absolutely nothing to do with this, but it’s obviously a title we’re looking forward to defending.”
Watch the ICC Women’s World Cup of Cricket live on Sky Sports from Friday. Coverage of the first match of the tournament, hosts New Zealand against the West Indies, begins at 12.30am on the dedicated Sky Sports channel. England vs Australia is live from 12:30am on Saturday.
