Australia Women vs New Zealand Women, New Zealand Women tour of Australia, 2019, Today Match Prediction 22 Feb 2019

ausw vs nzw Match Prediction & Analysis

The two teams at the top of the ICC Women’s Championship face off in the first of three One-Day Internationals in Perth. Australia will be keen to pick up where they left off against the White Ferns in September and October, when they won all three T20Is against them. New Zealand might be Australia’s nearest challengers, but they have played three more games, so this is an ideal opportunity to close the gap.

These two sides last met at the Women’s World Cup in July 2017, when Australia ran out winners by five wickets. The home side lead the overall head-to-head 90-31 and have won the last three matches. New Zealand have won just three of the last 12 games between these sides.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Australia Women Preview

As the reigning ICC Women’s World T20 champions, which they sealed in the West Indies last year, Australia should come into this series full of confidence, particularly as prior to that tournament, they swept New Zealand 3-0 in T20Is. However, it has been a little while since they played 50-over cricket but that is also true for New Zealand.

They have named a strong squad and despite Nicole Bolton and Sophie Molineux being unavailable, have called up Lauren Cheadle and Jess Jonassen to add experience to their bowling attack, showing off their impressive strength in depth. Elyse Villani is expected to be fit to feature throughout the series. The experience and power of Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry makes them a hard outfit for anyone to beat and they have a nice blend of youth and experience.

Australia Women Predicted Playing XI:

Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Elyse Villani, Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Nicola Carey, Georgia Wareham, Lauren Cheadle.

Australia Women Actual Playing XI:

Meg Lanning, Lauren Cheatle, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen, Alyssa Healy, Elyse Villani, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Rachael Haynes

New Zealand Women Preview

New Zealand have struggled in recent months, making an early exit from the Women’s World T20 and then being beaten on home soil in their ODI series against India. Although they bounced back to win the T20 series, they are far from playing at their best. Changes are expected to their coaching team in due course and Haidee Tiffin has opted to stay at home for this one rather than travel to Australia.

New Zealand have picked a spin-heavy squad with Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr, Leigh Kasperek and Amy Satterthwaite all ready to turn their arms over. They will continue to be heavily reliant on the experience of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Satterthwaite with the bat. If those players don’t perform, then they can struggle – if ever there was a time for some of their younger players to step up and start performing, that time is now.

New Zealand Women Predicted Playing XI:

Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Amy Satterthwaite (c), Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr, Katie Perkins (wk), Maddy Green, Leigh Kasperek, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu.

New Zealand Women Actual Playing XI:

Amy Satterthwaite, Katie Perkins, Leigh Kasperek, Hayley Jensen, Lauren Down, Lea Tahuhu, Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin

Weather Conditions

It is expected to remain warm and dry in Perth throughout the week, meaning the chances of any rain interruptions are minimal. The WACA is traditionally a quick and bouncy wicket. The leading wicket-takers at the WACA in Women’s ODIs have generally bowled medium pace, suggesting it might not be that friendly for spinners.

Venue

The WACA may no longer be the home of Test cricket in Perth, but it looks set to host women’s cricket for the foreseeable future. Australia Women last played here back in 2011, and in five matches here, they have only lost once. The highest score batting first at the venue is 214 and the average is 187. Both of New Zealand’s matches at this venue ended in defeat.

Toss: To Bat

The side winning the toss has generally favoured batting first at the WACA in Women’s ODIs. Australia have batted first the last three times they won the toss. New Zealand chose to bat second in their last game against India, and that ended a run of five matches when they won the toss. Prior to that, they batted first in three matches against Ireland.