Ashleigh Gardner, Megan Schutt give Australia winning start to home summer
Gardner's counter-attacking 61 gave Australia enough runs to defend against New Zealand
Gardner's counter-attacking 61 gave Australia enough runs to defend against New Zealand
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: Andrew McGlashan
Australia win by 17 runs on the opening day of the international summer in the country. After all that's gone on, that feels the most important part. As so often, Australia's depth and confidence shone through. New Zealand didn't pace their chase very well but may consider they didn't have the rub of the green with the umpires. Ash Gardner produced the standout batting of the match, while all Australia's bowlers played a part. Australia will know there's room for improvement as well, but after a six-month break that's hardly surprising.
Player of the Match is Ash Gardner "Pretty good pitch, it held a bit. Our aim was to go left and right handers. Nice to spend some time in the middle."
Sophie Devine "They probably got 10-20 runs too many. With the bat we just let it slip away. We'll get back into it tomorrow."
Meg Lanning "I thought we fought really nicely, Ash's innings was excellent. We had the luxury of knowing what would work bowling on that wicket. We were under the pump a little."
I'll wrap up the coverage for today. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon for the second match and hope you can join us. Until then, from Andrew McGlashan, it's goodbye.
Andrew C: "NZ have been Schutt Down."
Schutt has two balls to claim her maiden T20I five-wicket haul
HNK Jensen c Gardner b Schutt 4 (4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
AC Kerr c Molineux b Schutt 5 (5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Australia have this wrapped up
Arunabh: "I am surprised no one in critisizing Devine's approach. If we removed her boundaries from her scores then she made only 7 off 30. Can't bat like that and expect to win against Australia."
The New Zealand captain blamed her side's poor fielding and decision-making with the bat
Gardner's counter-attacking 61 gave Australia enough runs to defend against New Zealand